St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 5/3/2022

Time: 8:10 p.m. ET

Venue: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO

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

DraftKings: Cardinals -115, Royals -105

WynnBet: Cardinals -110, Royals +100

Caesars: Cardinals -108, Royals -102

Cardinals: 13-9

Royals: 7-14

I turned on the TV, saw Paul Goldschmidt hit a home run, and then took a nap.

I woke up, and Paul Goldschmidt’s home run was literally the only run scored on this day with the St. Louis Cardinals defeating the Kansas City Royals 1-0 in Busch Stadium behind what was a pitcher’s duel between Steven Matz and Zack Greinke.

Now the midwest rivals will meet again on Tuesday in what you’d expect to be a much better outing for the bats, unless the Cardinals’ pitching keeps on trucking with the series shifting to Kansas City. The game on Monday was a makeup game from a rain-out earlier in the season.

“Matz is pretty low-key, and I think he said, ‘What’s wrong?’” Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner recalled with a laugh. “I said to him, ‘Nothing’s wrong, but I just wanted to give you a break here. You threw 25 pitches just like that, so I want to give you a break.’ It worked out pretty good. I was just slowing it down. It’s about knowing when to go quick and when to slow it down; that’s the art of catching.”

Matz went on to throw six innings and allow only four hits while striking out four, and more importantly, walking none. On a normal day, Greinke’s stat line of six innings and one earned run would be a win any day for the Royals. It’s just that the bats were silenced because Matz was working at an efficient pace.

But Goldschmidt, who has started off slow, was the lone offensive difference and after hitting his second homer of the game, there’s hope within the Cardinals that the former MVP first baseman is back in the race here.

“It’s nice to relax and then come in fresh today,” he said. “We’re in the middle of 20 [games] in a row and 30 out of 31, I believe, so it was a great time for [the day off]. Off-days are important. As a competitor you’ve got to keep going, and you can’t think that you need an off-day. But when you take a step off, [they're] beneficial.”

It’s a shame that the Royals lost this game but it wasn’t due to their defense. Michael A. Taylor may have the catch of the year after he robbed Knizer with a leaping, stepping grab to keep it a one-run game.

“That’s one of the best catches I’ve ever seen,” manager Mike Matheny said. “The speed that he was going when he got to the ball, the instincts, seeing the wall, climbing, then having the athleticism to find a glove anywhere near it -- you’re not going to see a better play than that.

“When you have a great defensive play, when you have a pitcher out there pitching his heart out, you hear it in there late, ‘Let’s get him some, let’s go. This is where it turns around.’ But [we were] just having trouble putting [hits] on top of each other.”

Sometimes it’s hard to find the bright spots in a 1-0 game. That was definitely it.

“It was probably the most excited I’ve been after a play,” Taylor said. “Those aren’t routine plays. You want to make as many as possible, you want to make every single one, but there’s a lot of things that go into it. And I think that’s part of what makes it exciting.”

With the series shifting to Kansas City for an actual series, I expect Brad Keller to pick up the reins and have a much better outing to get the Royals a win. Dakota Hudson will not make it easy for the Royals, but the bats could use some home cooking. Royals win 6-3

Cardinals are 23-9 as a road favorite between -100 and -150 the past three seasons.

Cardinals are 67-56 on the road the past three seasons.

Royals are 33-44 as a home dog the past three seasons.

Cardinals:
Harrison Bader (R) CF
Paul Goldschmidt (R) 1B
Tyler O'Neill (R) LF
Nolan Arenado (R) 3B
Corey Dickerson (L) DH
Paul DeJong (R) SS
Dylan Carlson (S) RF
Andrew Knizner (R) C
Brendan Donovan (L) 2B
SP - Dakota Hudson

Royals:
Edward Olivares (R) RF
Whit Merrifield (R) 2B
Andrew Benintendi (L) LF
Salvador Perez (R) C
Carlos Santana (S) 1B
Hunter Dozier (R) DH
Bobby Witt Jr. (R) 3B
Michael A. Taylor (R) CF
Nicky Lopez (L) SS
SP - Brad Keller

Batting average: Nolan Arenado -- .359

Hits: Nolan Arenado -- 28

Home runs: Nolan Arenado -- 6

RBI: Nolan Arenado -- 18

Wins: Steven Matz -- 3

Saves: Giovanny Gallegos -- 5

ERA: Miles Mikolas -- 1.52

Batting average: Andrew Benintendi -- .365

Hits: Andrew Benintendi - 27

Home runs: Salvador Perez -- 5

RBI: Andrew Benintendi -- 10

Wins: Three tied -- 2

Saves: Josh Staumont -- 2

ERA: Brad Keller -- 2.19