Cards Cross the State for Three-Game Series Against Royals

The Cardinal Chronicle
Cardinals Cross the State for Three-Game Set Against Royals
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The St. Louis Cardinals head west across Interstate 70 this week for a three-game set against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium, with an unusual rhythm built into the schedule: games Thursday and Friday, an off day Saturday, and the series finale Sunday afternoon.

It is still the Cardinals and Royals, still the cross-state matchup, and still one of those series that carries a little extra edge even when the two clubs are headed in different directions.

St. Louis enters the series at 40-32 after missing another chance to climb 10 games over .500 in Wednesday’s 6-1 loss to the San Diego Padres. The Cardinals took two of three from San Diego, but the finale was a reminder that this club still has to clean up the small things — baserunning mistakes, missed chances with traffic on the bases, and late-inning damage from the bullpen.

Kansas City comes in at 30-45, buried in a difficult first half and trying to stabilize a pitching staff that has been hit hard by injuries. The Royals avoided a sweep in Washington on Wednesday with a 6-2 win over the Nationals, getting solo home runs from Carter Jensen, John Rave, Lane Thomas and Michael Massey. That is the warning label for the Cardinals: the Royals’ record is poor, but there is still enough swing in that lineup to punish mistakes.

The Cardinals cannot afford to treat this as a breather. After winning three of their last four before Wednesday’s loss, St. Louis still has a chance to make this a successful stretch before returning home. But that only happens if they handle business against a struggling team.

The series opens Thursday night with Matthew Liberatore facing left-hander Noah Cameron. Liberatore enters at 3-3 with a 4.71 ERA and 65 strikeouts. Cameron comes in at 3-4 with a 4.11 ERA and 64 strikeouts. It is a left-on-left matchup, and for the Cardinals.

Liberatore does not need to be perfect, but he does need to give the Cardinals at least five solid frames. if not six. Kansas City has struggled overall, but Bobby Witt Jr. remains one of the most dangerous players in the American League, and the Royals have enough athleticism to turn walks, singles and mistakes into trouble. Against this kind of club, free passes are gasoline on a dry field.

Friday brings one of the better matchups of the series, with Michael McGreevy taking the ball against Seth Lugo. McGreevy enters at 3-5 with a 2.99 ERA and 51 strikeouts, while Lugo is listed at 2-4 with a 3.86 ERA and 66 strikeouts. Lugo is expected back after a stint on the 7-day concussion injured list, and Kansas City needs him badly with its pitching depth thinned by injuries.

McGreevy has been one of the Cardinals’ steadier rotation pieces. He is not built around flash. He is built around strike-throwing, tempo, and forcing hitters to earn their way aboard. In a road series like this, that matters. The Cardinals’ bullpen has been used hard at times and uneven at others, so six clean innings from McGreevy would be worth more than the box score alone.

Saturday is an off day, which gives the series a strange stop-and-start feel. That can help a bullpen reset, but it can also take some momentum out of the lineup. For St. Louis, the off day should be treated as a tool, not a disruption. Get the bullpen straight, get the lineup fresh, and come back Sunday with a chance to either win or sweep the series.

The finale Sunday afternoon features Dustin May against right-hander Stephen Kolek. May enters at 5-6 with a 3.75 ERA and 75 strikeouts. Kolek comes in at 4-1 with a 2.68 ERA and 34 strikeouts. On paper, that is another quality pitching matchup, and for May, it is another opportunity to show why his value to this Cardinals club goes well beyond the trade-rumor chatter.

May has been one of the central figures in the Cardinals’ first-half story. Every start matters now, not only because St. Louis is trying to stay in the postseason picture, but because every strong outing also adds to the broader question facing the front office: are the Cardinals buyers, sellers, or both? That debate can wait. For this weekend, the assignment is simple: win the series.

Offensively, the Cardinals need to get back to being a pressure team. Alec Burleson extended his hitting streak to 17 games in Wednesday’s loss, continuing to be one of the most reliable bats in the lineup. Jordan Walker, Lars Nootbaar, Iván Herrera, Masyn Winn, Blaze Jordan and Nathan Church give St. Louis more balance than it had earlier in the season, but the Cardinals have to avoid giving away outs on the bases. Wednesday was one of those games where the offense did not just fail to cash in — it helped Kansas City’s upcoming scouting report by showing how quickly innings can disappear.

Blaze Jordan and Nathan Church remain important pieces to watch. Both drove in runs Tuesday night against San Diego in the Cardinals’ 3-2 win, and both have helped lengthen a lineup that needed fresh blood. Jordan’s glove at third base has also been better than advertised, and that matters with the Cardinals trying to stabilize both the offense and defense during this run.

For Kansas City, the conversation begins with Witt. He is the player the Cardinals cannot let beat them by himself. He had three hits, a walk, a stolen base and an RBI in Kansas City’s Tuesday loss to Washington, another reminder that even in a rough Royals season, Witt remains a game-changing presence. Carter Jensen is also worth watching after going 4-for-4 with a double, a walk and a homer Wednesday.

The Royals’ pitching situation is another major storyline. Kansas City recently acquired Randy Dobnak from Seattle and Connor Seabold from Toronto while moving Carlos Estévez and Cole Ragans to the 60-day injured list. Ragans is out until at least July 7, and the club has also been dealing with injuries to Lugo, Kris Bubic and Nick Mears. That is not just background noise. It is part of why the Cardinals need to force long innings, get into the bullpen, and make Kansas City prove it has enough arms to cover the series.

This is the kind of series good teams win. It may not carry the glamour of a divisional showdown or a heavyweight National League matchup, but in the standings, these games count exactly the same. The Cardinals are in the thick of the hunt, and the Royals are a team they should beat. That does not mean they will. Baseball has a way of humbling anyone who starts reading the standings instead of playing the game.

For St. Louis, the formula is not complicated: get length from the starters, protect the baseball, stop running into outs, make the Royals’ thin pitching staff work, and keep Witt from turning the series into his own personal highlight reel.

The Cardinals have done enough to make this season interesting. Now they need to keep doing the ordinary things well. That is how a club turns a promising first half into something more durable.

Series Schedule

Thursday, June 18
Cardinals at Royals, 6:40 p.m.
LHP Matthew Liberatore, 3-3, 4.71 ERA, vs. LHP Noah Cameron, 3-4, 4.11 ERA
TV: Cardinals.TV, Royals.TV, KCTV5
Radio: KMOX

Friday, June 19
Cardinals at Royals, 7:15 p.m.
RHP Michael McGreevy, 3-5, 2.99 ERA, vs. RHP Seth Lugo, 2-4, 3.86 ERA
TV: Apple TV
Radio: KMOX

Saturday, June 20
Off Day

Sunday, June 21
Cardinals at Royals, 1:10 p.m.
RHP Dustin May, 5-6, 3.75 ERA, vs. RHP Stephen Kolek, 4-1, 2.68 ERA
TV: Cardinals.TV, Royals.TV
Radio: KMOX

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Photo Credit: Jordan Walker, St. Louis Cardinals |  Jeff Curry-Imagn Images