ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NOTES:
RECENT REDBIRDS: The I-70 interleague series resumes tonight as the St. Louis Cardinals and cross-state rival Kansas City Royals begin a two-game series at Kauffman Stadium … The Cardinals began their six-day, five-game Interleague road trip by taking two-of-three from the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field … A win tonight would give the Cardinals three road wins in a row for the first time since July 8-20 at the Chicago White Sox and Cubs.
FLIGHT PATTERN: The Cardinals enter the day in last place in the NL Central, 11.0 games out of 1st place and 9.0 games back in the NL Wild Card chase … St. Louis has spent 95 of 131 days in last place on this season’s MLB schedule (April 26-May 19, May 29-July 7 & July 28-present) … This season is the Cardinals slowest start since 1995 when they were 49-67 (.422) after 116 games … St. Louis needs to go 30-16 (.652) over the remaining 46 games to finish at .500.
A DAY OF REST: The last time the Cardinals had a scheduled Sunday off day was September 10, 1995 between home series with the Padres and Giants when the St. Louis Rams played their inaugural regular season home game in the city of St. Louis, a 17-13 win over the Saints at Busch Stadium II … The Cardinals actually had two Sundays off during the strike-shortened 1995 season: August 13 between series at San Diego and San Francisco on a road trip and Sept. 10 at home.
YOUNG SOUTHPAWS: Matthew Liberatore last night hurled a career-high 8.0 shutout innings against his original drafting team, the Tampa Bay Rays, becoming the first Cardinals rookie left-hander to throw 8.0+ scoreless IP since Jaime Garcia (9.0 on Aug. 22, 2010 vs. Giants) and the 9th since 1984 when Ricky Horton hurled a complete game shutout on June 29, 1994 at San Diego … Prior to Thursday, 11 MLB lefty starters facing the Rays at Tropicana Field had been a combined 0-8 with an 8.12 ERA … Libby’s performance was also just the 6th time this season for any left-handed MLB starter threw 8.0+ scoreless innings.
MISSOURI LOVES COMPANY: Until this season (1997-2022), the Cardinals and Royals have never played each other when both teams were in last place in their respective divisions … Both Missouri teams will be in last place for all four games of this season series.
CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT: Since Interleague play began in 1997, the Cardinals .607 win pct. (74-48) against the Royals is the best across MLB among Interleague natural rivals and their 2nd-highest against any opponent behind Arizona (.615) … St. Louis has won the season series against Kansas City in 16 of 26 seasons between the Show-Me State rivals (1997-2022) and won 23 of its last 32 games over the Royals dating back to August 7, 2017. – Elias
ROAD HOUSE: St. Louis has achieved a high success rate at Kauffman Stadium, posting a 44-22 (.667) regular season record at the stadium, their highest at any active road venue and best on the road in any visiting city (min. 50 games).
INTERLEAGUE ACTION: The Cardinals are currently playing an exclusive Interleague multi-city road trip for the first time since June 4-11, 2014 through Kansas City, Toronto, and Tampa Bay … St. Louis is 237-234 all-time in Interleague play, with a .503 win pct. that ranks 14th in MLB and only trails Los Angeles (.533) among NL clubs … The Cardinals are 115-120 (.489) all-time at American League ballparks in the regular season (10-8 this season).
INTERLEAGUE INSTIGATOR: Nolan Arenado is tied with Alex Bregman for the MLB lead in Interleague RBI (32) this season … Arenado has hit safely in all 10 career games at Kauffman Stadium (.395/.455/.947, 15-28) with 6 HR, 17 RBI & 1.402 OPS, which is the 3rd-longest active in MLB behind Mike Trout (13) and Anthony Santander (11) … Arenado also has an extra-base hit in his last five games in Kansas City (4 HR, 2B), longest by a Cardinal all-time and tied with Mookie Betts for the longest active streak in MLB.
BACKSTOP BRILLIANCE: Since July 1, Cardinals catchers Willson Contreras, Andrew Knizner, and Ivan Herrera have combined to lead all MLB backstops in hits (47), batting average (.367), OBP (.427), RBI (28), and OPS (1.044) while ranking T-1st in total bases (79), and 2nd in slugging (.617). – stats as catcher only
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER: RHP ADAM WAINWRIGHT (3-6, 7.81)
TONIGHT’S GAME
- Makes his 15th start of the season & 472nd career appearance (405th career start).
- Is making his 15th career start vs. the Royals and his 9th at Kauffman Stadium.
- Tonight is his 50th career interleague start. The Royals’ Zack Greinke is the all-time leader with 77.
- His seven career wins vs. Kansas City are the most by any pitcher in N.L. history and his 5 career wins at The K, match his most (Minute Maid Park) among A.L. ballparks.
- Is looking to snap a career-high five-game losing skid (June 24-present).
- Wainwright is one of 13 pitchers (two Cardinals) in MLB history to make 400 or more career starts exclusively with one organization. Clayton Kershaw (414) joins Wainwright as the two active. Bob Gibson ranks 6th, while Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators leads at 666.
- Is two wins shy of 200 career and 12 wins from 210 (T-2nd all-time Cardinals history with Jesse Haines).
- Adam, who turns age 42 on August 30, is one of three active players age 40+ with Rich Hill (43) and Miguel Cabrera (40). Has made 52 starts since turning age 40.
- Has pitched 5.0+ innings in 10 of 14 starts (one quality start).
- Has missed a total of 48 games this season. Missed the first 33 games of the season (March 30-May 5) due to a groin injury suffered while working out during the WBC Finals and another 15 games (July 5-23) due to a right shoulder strain.
BUSCH STADIUM III (2006-present)
- His 211th career start at Busch Stadium III on 8/4/23 tied Clayton Kershaw (211 at Dodger Stadium) and Félix Hernandez (211 at T-Mobile Park) for 16th-most at a single stadium in MLB history.
- Has 1,198 regular season strikeouts at Busch Stadium III, 13th-most all-time at a single stadium. Dazzy Vance (1,201 at Ebbets Field) ranks 12th.
- Has thrown 1,418.1 innings at Busch, 38th all-time at a single stadium. Félix Hernandez (1,422.2 at T-Mobile Park) and Chuck Finley (1,422.2 at Angels Stadium) tie for 36th.
- Earned 107 career regular season wins at Busch Stadium III, tied with Wilbur Cooper (107 at Forbes Field) for 22nd-most wins at a single stadium.
- Needs one Home win to pass Jesse Haines (107) for 2nd all-time among Cardinals.
- Is one of 22 pitchers in MLB history to hold a stadium’s record for both appearances (242) and starts (210). Joins Bob Forsch (233 app/207 GS at Busch II) as Cardinals on that list.
LAST TIME OUT
- Matched his season-high with 7 runs allowed, all with two outs, last Fri. (8/4) vs. COL and suffered a 9-4 defeat as the two teams combined for 29 hits. The loss was the 5th-straight for Adam, a new career high, and it was his 4th start of the season going 3.0 IP or less.
DATE vs. RESULT DEC IP H R ER BB SO HR NP-S
8/4 COL L 9-4 L-6 3.0 9 7 7 2 5 0 75-45
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
TRIP TRACKER: The Royals were blanked at Fenway Park last night in a 2-0 decision, wrapping up a 7-game road trip with a 2-5 record in Philadelphia (1-2) and Boston (1-3)…the Royals won the 1st game of the trip a week ago tonight to extend their win streak to 7 games, but lost 5 of the next 6…more than 45% of their hits on the trip went for extra bases—including 11 HR—for a .769 OPS, and they had 13 steals in 15 attempts…Royals pitchers were hit to the tune of a 5.52 ERA (36 ER in 58.2 IP), but issued only 12 walks in 58.2 innings for a 1.8 BB/9.
Last night marked Kansas City’s 13th shutout loss of the year, 1 behind Detroit for the most in the Majors.
HOME: The Royals begin a 6-game homestand tonight at Kauffman Stadium, where they went 6-0 on their most recent stay from July 28-Aug. 3 vs. the Twins and Mets to mark the fifth perfect homestand of at least 6 games in club history…the stay included a pair of walk-off wins in the 10th inning, and the Royals have won 6 games in walk-off fashion this season, trailing only Minnesota (9) and Chicago (7) among American League teams.
Kansas City’s current 6-game home win streak is their longest in two years, and with a win tonight they would extend it to 7 games, which would be their longest in five years, since Aug. 28-Sept. 11, 2018 (7).
The Royals hit .321 (67-for-209) on the last homestand with an .875 OPS and averaged 6.7 runs/game.
Royals pitchers own a 3.05 ERA (19 ER in 56.0 IP) with 52 strikeouts (8.4 K/9) in their last 6 home games.
The Royals have not lost a game at Kauffman Stadium since July 20 vs. Detroit, which was 22 days ago.
I-70 SERIES: The Royals are hosting their intrastate rivals from St. Louis for a 2-game series this weekend…these teams split a 2-game set in St. Louis at the end of May, when the Royals won a 7-0 decision before dropping the finale, 2-1…the Royals have not won a season series vs. the Cardinals since 2016, when they went 3-1, and are 9-23 since, including five season series losses and one split…they are 3-12 in their last 15 games vs. the Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium—in which they’ve been outscored 94-40 (-54) and 2 of those 3 wins came in 2020.
The Royals are 14-24 in Interleague play this season, but have won 6 of their last 8 games since July 1.
Kansas City is playing 14 of its 28 games in the month of August vs. National League opponents, including a 3-game set at Wrigley Field next weekend and 3 games in Kansas City vs. the Pirates to end the month.
STARTING SOMETHING: Austin Cox pitched 2.0 scoreless innings as the opener in last night’s loss, continuing what has been a strong run of starting pitching for the Royals over the last 11 games, during which their 3.29 ERA (23 ER in 63.0 IP) since July 30 ranks 6th in the Majors behind Cleveland (2.29), Texas (2.45), Tampa Bay (3.22), Baltimore (3.25) and Toronto (3.28)…Royals starters have issued 7 walks to 247 batters over 63.0 innings during this 11-game stretch for a 1.0 BB/9 and 2.8 BB%, which rank 3rd and 4th, respectively, in the Majors.
Tonight the Royals will use an opener for the 2nd straight game in Dylan Coleman, who is making his 1st career big league start…prior to last night, the Royals hadn’t used an opener since June 22 at Tampa Bay.
The Royals are 3-6 when starting an opener this year and those pitchers have 18 strikeouts in 14.1 innings.
MIKEY LIKEY: Maikel Garcia enters tonight with a career-best 14-game hit streak, during which he’s batting .310 (18-for-58) with 9 RBI…it’s the longest active streak in the American League and the 2nd-longest active streak in the Majors, 1 game shy of Ha-seong Kim’s 15-game run…with a hit tonight, Garcia would match David DeJesus (twice in 2004) and Mike Moustakas (2011) for the longest hit streak by a rookie in Royals history.
Garcia’s 14-game hit streak is the longest by a Royal since Whit Merrifield’s 15-game run in 2019…prior to that, the last longer streak by a Royal was Merrifield’s franchise-record 31-game streak from 2018-19.
Since making his season debut on May 2, Garcia ranks tied with Rafael Devers for 5th in the American League with 125 hard hit balls, trailing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (143), Kyle Tucker (140), Julio Rodríguez (132) and Spencer Torkelson (125)…hard hit balls are those with an exit velocity of 95.0 mph or higher.
Garcia ranks tied for 5th among all position players with 11 Outs Above Average on defense, trailing only teammate Bobby Witt Jr. and Dansby Swanson (13) and Ke’Bryan Hayes and Rodríguez (12).
GETTING OFFENSIVE: Despite getting blanked in Boston last night, the Royals rank 2nd in the American League with 5.5 runs per game over the last two weeks (since July 28), and lead the league during that time in several offensive categories, including hits (128), total bases (220), batting average (.283), slugging percentage (.486) and OPS (.818)…they also lead the Majors with 26 steals since July 28, 8 more than any other team.
Bobby Witt Jr. has recorded a hit in 11 of his last 12 games since July 28, a stretch in which he leads the American League in extra-base hits (9) and RBI (17), is tied with Jose Altuve for 1st in hits (21) and is tied with Wander Franco for 1st in total bases (39)…he ranks 3rd in the American League during this two-week stretch in slugging percentage (.780) and OPS (1.253) and tied for 3rd in batting average (.420).
After hitting .206 (63-for-306) with a .622 OPS before the All-Star break, MJ Melendez has a hit in 20 of 25 games since the break, during which he’s batting .280 (26-for-93) with 11 extra-base hits for an .874 OPS…in his last 5 games, he is 8-for-20 (.400) with 4 home runs, a 1.000 slugging pct. and 1.429 OPS.
In 18 games since the start of the Yankees series, Michael Massey is batting .281 (18-for-64) with 14 RBI, a .958 OPS and his 6 home runs are 1 behind Cal Raleigh and Kyle Tucker for the American League lead.
Freddy Fermin has started 9 of the Royals last 13 games at catcher since first baseman Nick Pratto was placed on the Injured List on July 28…since Fermin’s average tumbled to .206 on June 19, he’s batting .365 (35-for-96) in 27 games with 19 RBI and 14 extra-base hits for a .635 slugging pct. and 1.015 OPS.
THE RUNNING ROYALS: The Royals were caught stealing twice in a game Wednesday night for the first time since July 9 at Cleveland…in 26 games since the break, the Royals lead the Majors with 36 steals in 41 attempts for an 87.8% success rate, which ranks 5th in the Majors…they have 26 steals in their last 13 games, which are
more than the D-backs (18) for the Majors lead and 13 more than the Astros (13) for the American League lead.
After recording only 40 stolen bases in 56 games through the end of May, the Royals rank 2nd in the Major Leagues and lead the American League with 72 steals in 61 games since June 1…for the season, they rank 4th in the Majors with 112 steals, trailing Cincinnati (130), Tampa Bay (123) and Arizona (120).
Nine different Royals players have recorded at least 5 steals this season, which trails only the Reds, who have 10 players with at least 5 steals…Kansas City’s leading base stealer is Bobby Witt Jr., who ranks 4th in the Majors with 34 steals behind Ronald Acuña Jr. (53), Esteury Ruiz (46) and Corbin Carroll (36).
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: RHP DYLAN COLEMAN (0-0, 10.05)
Dylan is making his 1st Major League start tonight vs. the Cardinals…he’s made 2 starts as a professional, both with the rookie-level ACL Padres in 2019, but he was mainly a starting pitcher at Missouri State University from 2016-18, where 46 of his 50 outings came as a starting pitcher.
Coleman is from Potosi, Mo., which is approximately 70 miles southwest of Busch Stadium.
He last pitched on Tuesday night in Boston, where he recorded a 1-2-3 9th inning in a 9-3 win.
Dylan has allowed 6 runs in 9.1 innings since his July 5 recall, after allowing 10 runs over 5.0 innings during his first stint to begin the season.
He was recalled from Triple-A Omaha on July 5 after recording 34 strikeouts and 22 walks in 19.0 innings over 20 appearances.
