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Larry Ness
Aug 14 '21, 7:10 PM in 3h
MLB | Cardinals vs Royals
Play on: Royals -106 at SC Consensus
My free play is on the KC Royals at 7;10 ET.
The KC Royals lost 104 games in 2018, 103 in 2019 and then went 26-34 in 2020. The Royals opened 16-9 in 2021 but then lost 11 straight. Right before the All Star break, they suffered a 12-game road losing streak and will take the field tonight at home against their Missouri rivals (St Louis Cardinals) 49-65 after a 6-0 Friday loss to said St Louis. The Royals reside in last place in the AL Central, 18 games behind the 1st-place White Sox (KC's back-to-back World Series appearances in 2014 and 2015 seem more like decades ago). The St Louis Cardinals fought through a major COVID outbreak to make the 2020 expanded playoff field, the team's SEVENTH postseason over a 10-year span (won a World Series title in 2011). They were expected to be a division and/or wild card contender in 2021 but at the moment, that prospect is NOT looking very promising. St Louis was eight games over .500 on May 29 (30-22) but enter the middle contest of this three-game series a modest 59-56, leaving them 10-1/2 games behind the first-place Brewers in the NL Central (the Cards are also 6 1/2-games behind in the race for the NL's No. 2 wild card spot).
Tonight's starting pitching matchup features veteran lefty Jon Lester (3-6, 5.57 ERA) going up against KC righty Brad Keller (7-11, 5.79 ERA). Lester has had a distinguished career, as he's closing in on 200 career wins (he owns 196). Lester endured the worst season of his career with the Cubs in 2020, going 3-3 with a 5.16 ERA. He became a free agent after the season and signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Washington Nationals for the 2021 season. He made 16 starts for the Nats (3-5 with a 5.02 ERA and 1.59 WHIP) but was traded to the St Louis Cardinals on Jul 30. He's made two starts for St Louis, lasting 10.1 innings while allowing 11 ERs in going 0-2 ( 9.58 ERA). Brad Keller is in his fourth season, having made 101 appearances (80 starts) with a career mark of 28-34 (4.06 ERA / 1.39 WHIP). Keller had been improving lately after starting the season poorly but he has lost his last two starts, including a defeat at St Louis on Aug 7, when he allowed five ERs on seven hits over five-plus innings.
Keller will NEVER match Lester's career accomplishments but I'll take a chance with him here vs Lester, who is NO longer the pitcher he once was. Lester has made seven road starts in 2021, posting a 7.07 ERA and .331 BAA. I had the Cards last night but Lester is NO Jack Flaherty, who threw six scoreless innings in the Cards' 6-0 win to move to 9-1 with a 2.65 ERA on the season! Tonight, it's KC's turn.
Good luck...Larry
Aug 14 '21, 7:10 PM in 3h
MLB | Cardinals vs Royals
Play on: Royals -106 at SC Consensus
My free play is on the KC Royals at 7;10 ET.
The KC Royals lost 104 games in 2018, 103 in 2019 and then went 26-34 in 2020. The Royals opened 16-9 in 2021 but then lost 11 straight. Right before the All Star break, they suffered a 12-game road losing streak and will take the field tonight at home against their Missouri rivals (St Louis Cardinals) 49-65 after a 6-0 Friday loss to said St Louis. The Royals reside in last place in the AL Central, 18 games behind the 1st-place White Sox (KC's back-to-back World Series appearances in 2014 and 2015 seem more like decades ago). The St Louis Cardinals fought through a major COVID outbreak to make the 2020 expanded playoff field, the team's SEVENTH postseason over a 10-year span (won a World Series title in 2011). They were expected to be a division and/or wild card contender in 2021 but at the moment, that prospect is NOT looking very promising. St Louis was eight games over .500 on May 29 (30-22) but enter the middle contest of this three-game series a modest 59-56, leaving them 10-1/2 games behind the first-place Brewers in the NL Central (the Cards are also 6 1/2-games behind in the race for the NL's No. 2 wild card spot).
Tonight's starting pitching matchup features veteran lefty Jon Lester (3-6, 5.57 ERA) going up against KC righty Brad Keller (7-11, 5.79 ERA). Lester has had a distinguished career, as he's closing in on 200 career wins (he owns 196). Lester endured the worst season of his career with the Cubs in 2020, going 3-3 with a 5.16 ERA. He became a free agent after the season and signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Washington Nationals for the 2021 season. He made 16 starts for the Nats (3-5 with a 5.02 ERA and 1.59 WHIP) but was traded to the St Louis Cardinals on Jul 30. He's made two starts for St Louis, lasting 10.1 innings while allowing 11 ERs in going 0-2 ( 9.58 ERA). Brad Keller is in his fourth season, having made 101 appearances (80 starts) with a career mark of 28-34 (4.06 ERA / 1.39 WHIP). Keller had been improving lately after starting the season poorly but he has lost his last two starts, including a defeat at St Louis on Aug 7, when he allowed five ERs on seven hits over five-plus innings.
Keller will NEVER match Lester's career accomplishments but I'll take a chance with him here vs Lester, who is NO longer the pitcher he once was. Lester has made seven road starts in 2021, posting a 7.07 ERA and .331 BAA. I had the Cards last night but Lester is NO Jack Flaherty, who threw six scoreless innings in the Cards' 6-0 win to move to 9-1 with a 2.65 ERA on the season! Tonight, it's KC's turn.
Good luck...Larry
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