Kansas City @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( May 29, 2013 ) Kansas City 3, St. Louis 5
The Cardinals go for their seventh straight win over Kansas City on Thursday as top pitching prospect Michael Wacha makes his major-league debut. Wacha hopes to emulate the success of St. Louis’ rookie pitchers, who are 10-2 with a 2.23 ERA this month. They’ve helped the Cards to the best record in baseball at 35-17. Wacha was chosen 19th overall in last summer’s draft out of Texas A&M. He’s the first Cardinals pitcher in 25 years to go from the draft to the majors in under a year.
Kansas City has dropped eight straight, scoring 16 runs in the skid, after the bullpen blew a 3-1 eighth-inning lead Wednesday. Rookie right fielder David Lough is hitting .345 and left fielder Alex Gordon is at .340, but no one else is hitting. The Royals, who traveled by bus to St. Louis for the second half of this home-and-home I-70 series, have no answer for Carlos Beltran, their former AL Rookie of the Year. He’s homered in two straight games to give him 12, putting him among the National League leaders. He also made a sliding catch Wednesday.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Kansas City, Fox Sports Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Jeremy Guthrie (5-3, 3.92 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Michael Wacha (0-0, 0.00)
Guthrie has been torched in his last three outings, giving up eight homers and 17 earned runs in 19 1/3 innings. He’s served up 15 homers this season, tops in the majors. Last season, in his only career start against the Cards, Guthrie allowed two runs and six hits over six innings. Batters are hitting .264 against Guthrie this year.
Wacha, 21, is a 6-foot-6 right-hander with a dominant changeup. He went 4-0 with a Pacific Coast League-leading 2.05 ERA in nine starts and 52 2/3 innings for the Cardinals' Triple-A team in Memphis. That followed a spring training in which Wacha did not allow an earned run. Wacha is the fastest St. Louis pitcher to reach the majors since Cris Carpenter (first round, 1987) reached the majors in May of 1988.
WALK-OFFS:
1. 1. Cardinals closer Edward Mujica is 17-for-17 in save opportunities.
2. “I’m here to stay,” Wacha said, when asked in Wednesday’s media session if he was just passing through.
3. Royals starting C Salvador Perez remains on the bereavement list due to his grandmother’s death.
PREDICTION: Cardinals 6, Royals 3