St. Louis @ Kansas City preview

Last Meeting ( May 27, 2013 ) St. Louis 6, Kansas City 3

On the week when Sports Illustrated featured St. Louis' pitching rotation on the cover, the Cardinals rolled out the latest of their top pitching prospects. Tyler Lyons will toe the rubber on Tuesday when St. Louis finishes a two-game set at the Kansas City Royals. Lyons tossed seven strong innings Wednesday as St. Louis secured a 5-3 win over San Diego.

Ervin Santana will vie for his 100th career victory when he starts the series finale for the Royals, who dropped a 6-3 decision on Monday. The series moves to St. Louis for a two-game set starting Wednesday. Kansas City looks to snap a six-game losing streak, while the Cardinals have won 13 of their past 18 games.

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Midwest (St. Louis), Fox Sports Kansas City (Kansas City)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals LH Tyler Lyons (1-0, 1.29 ERA) vs. Royals RH Ervin Santana (3-4, 3.14).

Lyons allowed just one earned run on four hits against the Padres in his debut, walking one and striking out four. A 10th-round selection out of Oklahoma State in 2009, Lyons went 2-1 with a 4.47 ERA in eight starts for Triple-A Memphis this season. Other than three two-out hits and a seventh-inning homer by Jedd Gyorko, Lyons never was pushed while throwing 81 pitches in his debut.

Santana looks to reverse a three-start losing streak in which the right-hander has surrendered six homers in 21 innings. The 30-year-old always has struggled with keeping the ball out of the outfield seats. Santana yielded an American League-worst 39 homers last season and is 27th among active pitchers with 213 allowed. Santana surrendered a season-high five earned runs in 7 2/3 innings Thursday against the Angels, striking out eight in the loss.

WALK-OFFS

1. St. Louis RHP Michael Wacha, who is a first-round selection in the 2012 draft, may start for St. Louis on Thursday.

2. Kansas City 3B Mike Moustakas, who is nursing a sore quad, has three hits in his past 44 at-bats.

3. St. Louis sent reliever Carlos Martinez to Triple-A Memphis in favor of reliever Victor Marte.

PREDICTION: Royals 5, Cardinals 2