St. Louis @ Kansas City preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 10, 2018 ) St. Louis 7, Kansas City 0

The St. Louis Cardinals are hanging around in the National League playoff race, and a couple more days on the opposite side of the state should help their cause. The Cardinals will try to beat up on the host Kansas City Royals for a second straight night when the intrastate rivals continue their three-game interleague series Saturday.

St. Louis is 14-9 under interim manager Mike Shildt and 7-2 in August to stay within 3 1/2 games of the second NL wild-card. Red-hot Matt Carpenter hit his 32nd homer in the Cardinals’ 7-0 win in Friday’s series opener, giving St. Louis four straight wins at Kauffman Stadium. Three pitchers combined on a seven-hitter for the Cardinals, whose revamped bullpen has thrown 13 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings. The Royals (35-80) have lost seven of their last eight games and have the second-worst record in the majors – a half-game ahead of Baltimore.

TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), FS Kansas City

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Jack Flaherty (5-6, 3.27 ERA) vs. Royals LH Danny Duffy (7-10, 4.70)

After losing two straight starts, Flaherty returned to his dominant form Sunday to win at Pittsburgh. The 22-year-old rookie struck out seven and allowed three hits over six scoreless frames. He has recorded at least seven strikeouts in four straight starts and leads NL rookies with 118 in 96 1/3 innings.

Duffy has endured an up-and-down season. The 29-year-old had a three-start stretch in July in which he allowed one run over 20 innings, but he has been hit hard in two of his last three outings - surrendering 13 runs in those contests. Duffy is 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA in three starts against St. Louis.

WALK-OFFS

1. Carpenter is 11-for-34 with six homers during an eight-game hitting streak and has reached base in a career-high 28 consecutive contests.

2. Cardinals INF/OF Yairo Munoz left Friday’s game with a sprained right wrist and is day-to-day.

3. The Royals are 16-40 at home and on pace to eclipse the franchise record of 51 home losses set in 1998.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 6, Royals 2