St. Louis @ Kansas City preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 11, 2018 ) St. Louis 8, Kansas City 3

The streaking St. Louis Cardinals aim to finish off a successful road trip with a sweep when they cap a three-game interleague series at the Kansas City Royals on Sunday. After taking two of three at Pittsburgh and Miami, the Cardinals have claimed the first two games against their in-state rivals, including Saturday's 8-3 triumph.

Jose Martinez and Harrison Bader both homered and three pitchers combined on a five-hitter as St. Louis won its fourth straight overall and improved to 11-4 over its last 15 games. The Cardinals allowed a total of six runs during the winning streak, a trend that Luke Weaver hopes to continue when he starts Sunday opposite Jakob Junis for the hosts. Matt Carpenter was hitless in four at-bats for St. Louis on Saturday after hitting .441 through his first 15 games in Kansas City. Alcides Escobar had a two-run homer and two runs scored for the Royals in the 8-3 loss, not nearly enough to prevent them from falling to 1-8 over their last nine contests.

TV: 2:15 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), FS Kansas City

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Luke Weaver (6-10, 4.66 ERA) vs. Royals RH Jakob Junis (6-11, 4.98)

Weaver bounced back from an abbreviated outing two turns ago to hold the Miami Marlins to two runs over six innings Monday on the road. He took a tough loss after giving up three runs across seven frames versus Kansas City earlier in the year. The former first-round pick has a 2.37 ERA in three career interleague starts but will be wary of Alex Gordon, who is 3-for-3 with a home run against Weaver.

Junis is 1-1 with a 4.19 ERA in four starts since coming off the 10-day disabled list last month. He had eight strikeouts and allowed one run in five solid innings of a no-decision against the Chicago Cubs on Monday. The Illinois native is 4-0 with a 3.32 ERA in his career in August and 2-1 with a 3.78 mark in interleague action.

WALK-OFFS

1. Carpenter did draw a walk Saturday to extend his on-base streak to 29 games.

2. Royals 2B Whit Merrifield is 1-for-20 over his last five games.

3. St. Louis purchased the contract of INF Patrick Wisdom from Triple-A Memphis and placed INF/OF Yairo Munoz (wrist) on the 10-day DL.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 6, Royals 4