The St. Louis Cardinals (31-29) and Kansas City Royals (28-31) will continue a MLB interleague series Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium, with the first pitch scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals 

St. Louis snapped a three-game losing streak Wednesday, as it picked up a 5-2 victory over Kansas City as -125 road favorites, while pushing up against the betting total of 7.  The Cardinals are capable of breaking out offensively, considering leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter is batting .429 with 10 extra-base hits over his last 17 games.  It’s important to point out that the club has dropped seven of its last nine interleague affairs.

Cardinals starting pitcher Michael Wacha (4-3, 2.45 ERA) tallied a 2-0 home victory over the San Francisco Giants last time out, as he allowed just three hits over six shutout innings.  The right-hander is 0-3 with a 2.51 ERA in five road efforts—despite opposing hitters batting just .209 against him away from Busch Stadium.  Wacha has compiled a 0-1 record and 2.84 ERA in three career regular-season starts versus American League opponents.

Kansas City has won two of the first three games in this series, but its hitting .196 and been outscored by a 26-7 margin in dropping its last four affairs at this ballpark.  The Royals had 44 comeback victories last season, which made them part of the AL Wild Card race, but they’ve managed just 13 such wins thus far during the 2014 campaign.  Kansas City is 22-10 in its last 32 home games versus teams with a winning record.

Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura (2-5, 3.45 ERA) will look to end a personal four-game losing streak, which includes a 9-2 setback at home to the Houston Astros last time out, as he gave up five runs and seven hits over 2.2 innings of work.  The right-hander is a disappointing 0-4 with a 4.50 ERA in six home outings, with opposing hitters batting .261 against him.  Ventura may be under a pitch count in this affair due to a recent drop in his velocity.

Sports bettors will likely back the Cardinals due to their 4-0 record in their last four games as road favorites of -110 to -150.

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