St. Louis travels to Kansas City for inter-league play on Sunday, hoping to secure a victory over the Royals.

Jamie Garcia, with a record of 5-0 on the season, gets the ball for the Cardinals, while the Royals trot Sean O'Sullivan to the mound in this one. He is 2-2 so far in 2011.



View St Louis vs Kansas City Odds and Stats.

Betting Line:
The Cardinals were listed as 150 favorites on the baseball moneyline at many online sportsbooks. The total was set at 8 before betting started earlier on Monday.

Power Rankings:
The MLB Power Rankings at Odds Shark show the National League's No. 3-rated Cardinals taking on the American League's No. 10-rated Royals in this contest.



How They Match Up:
Offensively, the game matches up Kansas City's No. 5 ranked American League offense (4.4 runs per game) against a Cardinals defense and pitching staff that sits at No. 4 in the National League at 3.9 runs allowed per game. The Royals have been averaging 8.8 hits per game, less than the Cardinals have managed so far this season (9.5 hits on average).

Kansas City owns the American League's No. 12 defense, allowing 4.6 men per game to cross the plate. That contrasts with St. Louis' National League No. 4-rated defense.

Last time out for St. Louis, they were a 3-0 Sportsbook as they battled the Royals on the road. Moneyline bettors who got the Cardinals at -119 were rewarded, while the 3 combined runs moved the game UNDER for totals bettors. St. Louis threw a shutout at Kansas City in their last outing, using a shutdown performance by Jake Westbrook to defeat Kansas City 3-0 on Saturday.




St. Louis Cardinals Trends:
When playing on Sunday are 5-5
Before playing San Diego are 4-6
After playing Kansas City are 6-4
After a win are 5-5

Kansas City Royals Trends:
When playing on Sunday are 2-8
Before playing Baltimore are 6-4
After playing St. Louis are 4-6
After a loss are 5-5

A few Cardinals at Royals trends to consider:
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of St. Louis' last 5 games
St. Louis is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 16 of St. Louis' last 20 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of St. Louis' last 5 games when playing Kansas City
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Kansas City's last 5 games when playing St. Louis
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Kansas City's last 5 games when playing at home against St. Louis
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Kansas City's last 14 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Kansas City's last 9 games at home


Next up:
St. Louis at San Diego, Monday, May 23
Kansas City at Baltimore, Tuesday, May 24