Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 4/13/2022

Time: 1:15 p.m. ET

Venue: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO

Where to watch: Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Midwest

DraftKings: Cardinals -150, Royals +130

BetMGM: Cardinals -155, Royals +125

Caesars: Cardinals -149, Royals +130

Royals: 2-3

Cardinals: 3-1

This is going to be a fun pitching battle between Aaron Civale and Carlos Hernandez. Both in their mid-20s, both with high expectations after solid seasons in 2021. Civale went 12-5 last season, while Hernandez went 6-2. These two will be called upon to carry their teams with the hope of making a push this season. Kansas City's pitching has been tremendous to start, and if Hernandez can come in from the four spot and pitch well, how good are the Royals feeling right now? Royals win 5-3

Albert Pujols hitting homers in Busch Stadium. Wearing a St. Louis Cardinals jersey. It just seems right. Not that it’ll be happening every day like it used to be when he was in his prime, but at the very least, a minutely-contributing Pujols is going to make the Cardinals really interesting come October.

Pujols hit his first homer in his return to St. Louis, and No. 680 in his career, on Tuesday in the Cardinals’ 6-5 win over the Kansas City Royals in the opening game of their series. The two will wrap up their two-game set on Wednesday, also in Busch Stadium, with Adam Wainwright taking the mound for the Cardinals.

But we need to discuss Pujols the baseball player (the person right now is a completely different story), because him back in St. Louis is providing a run of nostalgia that a lot of fans are ultimately enjoying at the current moment.

And hilariously enough, Pujols told Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol that he was going to hit the first pitch coming his way. Of course he did, clearing it to left field to send the crowd into a frenzy and also rewarding himself with a curtain call.

"When you have 680 you can make those kind of calls," Pujols said. "I had a good feeling. Sometimes you get lucky, and it happens."

Pujols also had three hits, two singles added to his homer, in the final season of his surefire Hall-of-Fame career. The 42-year-old, in addition to Nolan Arenado and Andrew Knizner going yard on the Royals’ pitching staff.

"He's The Machine for a reason," Knizner said. "I can't say enough about how he played tonight. That was an excellent display of hitting, squaring the ball up all over the field. It was impressive to watch."

The Cardinals are bound to be one of the better teams in baseball this season so long as this power surge remains. Not necessarily with Pujols, but with the likes of Arenado and even Tyler O’Neill ripping bombs to left field. With the uncertainty of the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs right now, I’d venture to guess that St. Louis could be the early favorite to win the NL Central.

As for the AL Central foe that’s visiting, the offense has been a far cry so far. Runs have come at a premium after only putting up five on the board is at least the norm for Kansas City to start after they’ve lost three in a row after winning their first two at home against Cleveland.

But at least Salvador Perez remembered how to hit home runs and hit two of them in the loss. Michael A. Taylor also went yard for Kansas City, which will send Zack Greinke to the mound in what should be a fun battle for the veteran pitchers.

"It feels great, but the most important thing is to win the game," Perez said after his 13th multi-homer game of his career. "If I hit a homer and we lose, I feel kind of horrible for the team."

I hate to see the Royals going through such a slump but I don’t think they’ll be getting out of this one for a little bit. The Cardinals might be just about to prove they’re on another planet right now if this power run continues. I really like St. Louis and if that pitching can at least round into form at some point, we might be looking at one of the best teams in the National League. Cardinals win 7-4

Royals are 32-52 as an underdog between +125 and +175 over the past three seasons.

Cardinals are 37-21 the past three seasons as a favorite between -125 and -175.

Royals:
Whit Merrifield (R) RF
Bobby Witt Jr. (R) 3B
Andrew Benintendi (L) LF
Salvador Perez (R) DH
Carlos Santana (S) 1B
Adalberto Mondesi (S) SS
Michael A. Taylor (R) CF
Nicky Lopez (L) 2B
Cam Gallagher (R) C

Cardinals:
Dylan Carlson (S) RF
Paul Goldschmidt (R) 1B
Tyler O'Neill (R) LF
Nolan Arenado (R) 3B
Albert Pujols (R) DH
Tommy Edman (S) 2B
Harrison Bader (R) CF
Paul DeJong (R) SS
Andrew Knizner (R) C

KC: Zack Greinke
STL: Adam Wainwright

Batting average: Andrew Benintendi -- .412

Hits: Andrew Benintendi -- 7

Home runs: Salvador Perez -- 2

RBI: Andrew Benintendi -- 4

Wins: Two tied -- 1

Saves: N/A

ERA: Brad Keller -- 0.00

Batting average: Nolan Arenado -- .438

Hits: Nolan Arenado -- 7

Home runs: Nolan Arenado -- 3

RBI: Nolan Arenado -- 9

Wins: Three tied -- 1

Saves: Giovanny Gallegos -- 1

ERA: Adam Wainwright -- 0.00