Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Sports Gaming Monitor

MLB Preview: St. Louis Cardinals (51-66) at Kansas City Royals (38-80)

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NOTES:

RECENT REDBIRDS: The I-70 interleague series concludes tonight as the St. Louis Cardinals and cross-state rival Kansas City Royals finish a two-game set at Kauffman Stadium … The Cardinals are 2-2 on their five-game Interleague road trip through Tampa Bay (2-1) and Kansas City (0-1) … After their rare scheduled off day tomorrow (first on a Sunday since September 10, 1995 when the St. Louis Rams played their inaugural regular season home game in the city of St. Louis at Busch Stadium II), the Cardinals open a seven games homestand against the Oakland Athletics (Aug. 14-16) and New York Mets (Aug. 17-20).

FLIGHT PATTERN: The Cardinals enter the day in last place in the NL Central, 12.0 games out of first and 9.5 games back in the NL Wild Card chase … St. Louis has spent 96 of 132 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 50-67 (.427) after 117 games … St. Louis needs to go 30-15 (.667) over the remaining 45 games to finish at .500.

BAKER RECALLED, CARLSON TO IL: The Cardinals today recalled 1B Luken Baker from Memphis (AAA) and placed OF Dylan Carlson (left oblique) on the 10-Day Injured List (retroactive to Aug. 10) … The 26-year-old Baker currently leads all of Minor League Baseball in home runs (33) and total bases (226), while ranking 2nd in RBI (98), 4th in slugging (.720), and 5th in OPS (1.159) … His career high 33 homers with Memphis is the 4th-highest total in Redbirds single-season history (1998-present), and tied for the 7th-most in a season among all Cardinals minor leaguers since 1962 … Additionally, Baker’s 1.159 OPS at Memphis is currently tops in Redbird single-season history, while his .334 batting average currently matches Joe McEwing (1998) for 2nd-best behind only Nick Stavinoha (.337 in 2008).

MISSOURI LOVES COMPANY: Until this season (1997-2022), the Cardinals and Royals have never played each other when both were in last place in their respective divisions … Both Missouri teams have been in last place for all four games of this season series. – Elias GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL. DO NOT PASS GO: Cardinals outfielders have thrown out 22 runners this season, tying the Rockies and Tigers for 2nd-most in MLB behind the Royals (28) … Jordan Walker, who has two assists in his last three games, is averaging 93.8 mph on outfield throws, 12th-best among all MLB players (Colorado’s Nolan Jones leads at 98.5) and the best by any Cardinal since Statcast began tracking (2020-23).

NOOT NEWS: Lars Nootbaar last night reached base safely 4 times in a game for the 10th time this season, tying Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani for most in MLB this season and most by a Cardinal i a single season since Tommy Pham (11 in 2017) .. Nootbaar is batting .400 (62-155) off fastballs this season, best in MLB (Ohtani is 2nd at .376).

INTERLEAGUE INSTIGATOR: Nolan Arenado is tied with Alex Bregman for the MLB lead in Interleague RBI (32) this season … Arenado has a hit in all 11 games at Kauffman Std. (.372/.429/.860, 16-43), T-2nd longest by an opponent to begin a career in stadium history (1973-present); only Detroit’s Chris Shelton (13) has recorded a longer hit streak at the K (2004-06) by an opponent to begin a career.

BACKSTOP BRILLIANCE: Since July 1, Cardinals catchers Willson Contreras, Andrew Knizner, and Ivan Herrera have combined to lead all MLB backstops in hits (50), total bases (86), RBI (33), batting average (.382), OBP (.446), slugging (.656) and OPS (1.102) – stats as catcher only

SOPHOMORE SLUGGERS: Nolan Gorman’s 24 jacks in his sophomore season lead MLB 2nd-year players this season, ahead of Josh Jung (22), Bobby Witt (21), Corbin Carroll (21), and Jack Suwinski (21).

CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT: Since Interleague play began in 1997, the Cardinals .602 win pct. (74-49) against the Royals is the best across MLB among Interleague natural rivals and their 3rd-highest against any opponent behind Arizona (.615) and Miami (.606) … With a win tonight, the Cardinals would avoid their first losing season series to the Royals since 2016 (1-3) and 8th overall.

ROAD HOUSE: St. Louis has achieved a high success rate at Kauffman Stadium, posting a 44-23 (.657) 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 237-235 all-time in Interleague play, with a .502 win pct. that ranks 14th in MLB and only trails Los Angeles (.533) among NL clubs … The Cardinals are 115-121 (.487) all-time at American League ballparks in the regular season (10-9 this season).

TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER: LHP STEVEN MATZ (3-7, 3.91)
TONIGHT’S GAME
NL Ranks: Pitch Tempo-bases empty (12.3 sec/pitch, 8th)

  • Making his 7th start since returning to the starting rotation (July 9-present) and 17th start of the season overall (24th appearance).
  • Needs one inning pitched to post his 4th career season of 100.0 or more.
  • Has held his opposition to one run or fewer in 5 of his 6 starts since returning to the starting rotation on July 9 at Chicago (AL).
  • Over his last four starts, is 3-0 with an 0.78 ERA, the lowest ERA in MLB since July 20.
  • Ran his scoreless streak to 17.0 innings before it was snapped on a Rockies sac fly in the 5th inning in his last start (8/5). Is the longest scoreless streak by a Cardinals pitcher this season.
  • In his six starts since returning from the Injured List, has posted a 3-0 record with a 1.65 ERA and a 1.92 opponent BA (32.2 innings pitched). Since July 9, his ERA ranks 3rd in MLB (1.65) and his opponent BA ranks 6th. His 33 strikeouts rank 7th among National League pitchers.
  • Started the first 10 games of the season before being moved to the bullpen, where he made eight straight relief appearances. Rejoined rotation on July 9 and has stayed.
  • Has made 162 starts in his career and 18 relief appearances, 13 of those in relief with the Cardinals.
  • Posted his 5th career season with 20+ appearances (2016, 2018-19, 2021, 2023).
  • As a starter this season, has a mark of 3-6 with a 4.12 ERA (83.0 IP) in 16 starts.
  • Has pitched 5.0 innings or more in 12-of-16 starts.
  • Is 0-1 with a 2.81 ERA (16.0 IP) in eight relief appearances, allowing runs in only three of eight appearances. Has worked 2.0+ IP in relief in four outings.
  • Hurled the then Cardinals season-high for innings pitched in relief (3.1) twice, garnering 10 scoreless outs, in London vs. Cubs (6/24) and vs. Astros (6/29).
  • Limiting opposing LH batters to a .203 batting average (15-74) with three extra-base hits (2 home runs and double).
  • Since joining the Cardinals in 2022, is 8-10 with a 4.04 ERA in 39 appearances (26 starts). The Cardinals lost his first six games started this year, before posting a 12-6 win vs. Detroit (5/7).

LAST TIME OUT

  • Earned his third straight win and the Cardinals have won 5 of his last 6 starts, as he tossed 6.0 innings allowing one run, snapping his scoreless inning streak at a team-best 17.0.
  • Held his opposition to one run or less in 5 of his last 6 starts. His 0.78 ERA over his last 4 starts is tops in MLB since July 20.

DATE vs. RESULT DEC IP H R ER BB SO HR NP-S
8/5 COL W 6-2 W-3 6.0 5 1 1 2 6 0 103-70

2023 SEASON

  • Extended his scoreless inning streak to a team-best 17.0 vs. COL (8/5) before it was snapped on a sac fly. Won his third straight decision with the Cardinals 5-1 over his last six starts since returning to the rotation on July 9 (3-0, 1.65 ERA).
  • Earned a win vs. CHI (7/30), his second straight decision tossing 6.0 scoreless innings of four-hit ball with no walks and two strikeouts. Was his second career win in a start at Busch Stadium as a Cardinal and since May 2, 2022 vs. KC (1-0). Ran his scoreless innings streak to 13.0 innings and had consecutive scoreless starts of 6.0 innings or more for the first time since 2017.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:

POWDER SURGE: The Royals pounded out 16 hits in last night’s 12-8 slugfest vs. St. Louis, a game in which they matched their season high in runs…the Royals jumped out to a 9-0 lead through the 2nd inning thanks to a 4-run 1st—keyed by Salvador Perez’s 2-run double—and a 5-run 2nd, fueled by Bobby Witt Jr.’s 3-run homer and an opposite-field blast by Salvy…Nelson Velázquez became the fifth player to homer in his 1st plate appearance with the Royals, as they recorded 3 home runs—all in the 2nd—for the third time in the last 4 games…Perez finished the game with 4 hits and 4 RBI for the third time in his career, falling a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.

ROSTER MOVE: The Royals announced today that right hander Jonathan Heasley has been optioned to Triple-A Omaha…in a corresponding move, right hander Max Castillo has been recalled from Omaha for his fourth stint with Kansas City this year…in 4 starts since he was last optioned on July 20, Castillo has recorded 24 strikeouts and 5 walks allowed in 20.1 innings, and last pitched on Tuesday vs. Iowa, when he allowed 2 runs on 3 hits in 5.2 innings, with a season-high-tying 8 strikeouts…in his last appearance with the Royals on July 19 vs. Detroit, Castillo needed just 37 pitches to record 3.0 scoreless innings in relief with just 1 hit allowed.

SCORING CHANGE: Late last night, the league announced a scoring change to last night’s game…in the bottom of the 7th inning, Michael Massey reached on what was originally ruled a double, but has since been changed to a two-base error on second baseman Nolan Gorman…this makes the run scored in that inning unearned.

HOME: The Royals have won 7 consecutive games at Kauffman Stadium to mark their longest home win streak in five years, since Aug. 28-Sept. 11, 2018 (7)…they have outscored opponents 52-29 (+23) during this streak and have hit .340 (84-for-247) with 11 home runs and a .932 OPS, while averaging 7.4 runs per game…their starting pitchers have recorded a 1.70 ERA (7 ER in 37.0 IP) during the 7-game home win streak and have recorded 18.0 consecutive scoreless innings since their last run allowed in the 2nd inning on Aug. 1 vs. the Mets.

With a win tonight, the Royals would have their longest home win streak since May 27-June 15, 2016 (9).

The Royals have not lost a game at Kauffman Stadium since July 20 vs. Detroit, which was 23 days ago.

SUNDAY SLUMBER: Following this 2-game set with Cardinals, the Royals get a break in the schedule tomorrow, before welcome the Mariners to town for a 4-game series beginning Monday night…tomorrow will be the first known originally scheduled off day on a Sunday in Royals history…after tonight, there will be 50 days (43 games) remaining in the regular season, and the Royals are scheduled off for seven of them (14.0%).

I-70 SERIES: The Royals are hosting their intrastate rivals 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… following last night’s victory, the Royals hold the season series lead, 2-1, and with a win tonight, they would clinch the season series for the first time since 2016, when they went 3-1…the Royals went 8-22 vs. the Cardinals from 2017-22, including five season series losses and one split…a win tonight would also clinch Kansas City’s fifth series sweep over St. Louis, something they haven’t done since June 29-30, 2016 at Busch Stadium…the Royals are seeking their second sweep of the Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium, done previously from June 12-14, 2001.

The Royals are 15-24 in Interleague play this season, but have won 7 of their last 9 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.

MIKEY LIKEY: Maikel Garcia singled in the 1st and 2nd innings last night before exiting with left upper body discomfort…he enters today with a career-best 15-game hit streak, during which he’s batting .333 (20-for60)…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 16-game run…Garcia’s 15-game hit streak is tied with David DeJesus (twice in 2004) and Mike Moustakas (2011) for the longest hit streak by a rookie in Royals history…it’s also the longest by any Royal since Whit Merrifield’s 15-game run from June 29-July 17, 2019…prior to that, the last longer streak by a Royal was Merrifield’s franchise-record 31-game streak from Sept. 10, 2018-April 10, 2019.

Since making his season debut on May 2, Garcia ranks tied with Rafael Devers and Spencer Torkelson for 4th in the American League with 127 hard hit balls, trailing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (145), Kyle Tucker (140) and Julio Rodríguez (137)…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 Wandero Franco and Rodríguez (12).

GETTING OFFENSIVE: The Royals last night continued their torrid stretch on offense, matching a season high with 12 runs…over the last 15 days (since July 28), the Royals are 9-5 (.643) and are tied with Baltimore, Houston and Texas for the 2nd-most wins in the American League, trailing only Seattle (11-2)…they also lead the American League in several offensive categories since July 28, including hits (145), total bases (250), extra-base hits (55), batting average (.295), slugging percentage (.509) and OPS (.851)…they also rank 2nd in the AL with 5.9 runs per game and tied for 2nd with 22 home runs, 1 shy of Houston (23)…the Royals lead the Majors since July 28 with 29 stolen bases in 14 games, 10 more than the Diamondbacks, the next closest team.

Bobby Witt Jr. has recorded a hit in 12 of his last 13 games since July 28, a stretch in which he leads the American League in extra-base hits (10) and RBI (20), is tied with Jose Altuve for 1st in hits (23) and is tied with Wander Franco for 1st in total bases (44)…he ranks 2nd in the American League over the last 15 days in slugging percentage (.800) and OPS (1.267) and ranks 4th in batting average (.418).

THE RUNNING ROYALS: The Royals went 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts last night, and in 27 games since the All-Star break, they lead the Major Leagues with 39 steals in 44 attempts for an 88.6% success rate, which ranks 4th in the Majors…they have 29 steals in their last 14 games, which are 10 more than the Diamondbacks (18) for the Majors lead and 16 more than the Astros (13) for the American League lead over the last 15 days.

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 75 steals in 62 games since June 1…for the season, they rank 4th in the Majors with 115 steals, trailing Cincinnati (130), Tampa Bay (126) and Arizona (121).

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).

Dairon Blanco has 9 steals since the All-Star break, 1 behind Willi Castro (10) for the American League lead.

TONIGHT’S STARTERS: LHP COLE RAGANS (3-3, 3.86)
COLE RAGANS is making his 4th start of the season (21st appearance) and 13th start of his career tonight vs. the Cardinals…Ragans, 25, was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 1st round (30th) of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of the North Florida Christian High School, and was acquired by Kansas City with 17-year-old Dominican outfielder Roni Cabrera on June 30 for Aroldis Chapman.

HOW ABOUT THIS KID?: Cole made his 3rd start as a Royal on Monday at Fenway Park vs. the Boston Red Sox and although he didn’t factor into the decision, he punched out a career-high 11 batters across 6.2 dominant innings, in which he yielded just 2 runs (1 earned) with 1 walk in an eventual 6-2, walk-off loss…after 2.0 scoreless frames to begin the game, the Red Sox scraped a run across after Pablo Reyes hit a leadoff single and advanced to third base on a stolen base/E2 as Freddy Fermin’s throw went to the outfield, and Masataka Yoshida drove him in with a 1-out sacrifice fly, resulting in an unearned run…back-to-back, 1-out doubles by Reyes and Connor Wong plated the lone earned run on Ragans’ line in the 5th inning, and the Royals knotted the game at 2 apiece with a pair of 2-out RBI hits by Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. in the 7th inning…Carlos Hernández took the ball in the 9th with the game tied at 2, and after a check-swing that should have been strike three on Luis Urías was incorrectly ruled ball four, Reyes punctuated his historic game with a walk-off grand slam that clanged off the left-field foul pole.

His 22 strikeouts through 3 appearances as a Royal are the most in club history through 3 games, surpassing teammate Alec Marsh, who struck out 21 batters in his first 3 outings from June 30-July 15 (G1) of this season.

He and Marsh are the first Royals teammates with games of 11 strikeouts with 1 or no walks in the same year since Mike Montgomery and Danny Duffy in 2019.

His outing marked just the sixth time in club history that a left-handed pitcher recorded at least 11 strikeouts, joining Danny Jackson (1987), Charlie Leibrandt (1988), Duffy (2x, 2016, ‘19) and Montgomery (2019)…he also became the third Royal to record at least 10 strikeouts at Fenway Park, joining Kevin Appier (10 on July 7, 1992) and Odalis Pérez (10 on Sept. 8, 2006).

His 1.02 ERA (2 ER in 17.2 IP) in 3 games as a Royals starting pitcher marks the lowest by a player to begin their Royals career, lower than Angel Zerpa’s 1.29 ERA (2 ER in 14.0 IP) from Sept. 30, 2021-July 26, 2022.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB: Ragans joins the Royals for the second time after being acquired on June 30 from the Texas Rangers, with whom he posted a 5.92 ERA (16 ER in 24.1 IP) with 24 strikeouts in 17 relief appearances this season…Ragans broke camp with the big league club and began the year with 5 consecutive scoreless outings, covering 5.0 innings while allowing just 2 hits…overall, he allowed 16 runs across 24.1 innings in 17 games, with 13 of those runs (12 ER) coming in 3 outings.

Made 9 starts with Texas last year, going 0-3 with a 4.95 ERA (22 ER in 40.0 IP).

Ragans endured two stints on the 15-day Injured List last season due to a left calf strain, from Aug. 26-Sept. 7 and Oct. 3-end of season.

AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY: A 1st-round Draft selection in 2016, Cole overcame two Tommy John surgeries and missed the 2020 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to become one of the top minor league pitchers in 2022…Ragans had his first Tommy John surgery on March 28, 2018 and felt discomfort while on a throwing program in early 2019, which led to another procedure on May 15, 2019.

He made his return in 2021 with 19 appearances (17) starts—his first game action since 2017—and was selected for the 2021 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game.

In 2022, he earned Texas’ Nolan Ryan Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award after going 8-5 with a 3.04 ERA (32 ER in 94.2 IP) and 113 strikeouts (10.7 K/9) in 18 starts between Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock.

WELCOME TO THE I-70 SERIES: Ragans is making his 1st career start vs. the Cardinals, but he did make a relief appearance against them on June 6 with Texas, when he retired Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Gorman, but walked Brendan Donovan en route to a 6-4 Rangers victory at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

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