Minor expected to start as Kansas City hosts St. Louis

Updated Aug. 13, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

St. Louis Cardinals (58-56, third in the NL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (49-64, fifth in the AL Central)

Kansas City, Missouri; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Jack Flaherty (8-1, 0.00 ERA) Royals: Mike Minor (8-10, 5.39 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 128 strikeouts)

LINE: Royals +120, Cardinals -139; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Kansas City and St. Louis will play on Friday.

The Royals are 29-27 in home games in 2020. The Kansas City pitching staff averages 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings, Mike Minor leads them with a mark of 8.8.

The Cardinals are 26-31 on the road. St. Louis has a collective on-base percentage of .304, led by Paul Goldschmidt with a mark of .343.

The Royals won the last meeting 6-5. Scott Barlow earned his fourth victory and Michael A. Taylor went 2-for-4 with an RBI for Kansas City. Alex Reyes took his fifth loss for St. Louis.

TOP PERFORMERS: Salvador Perez leads the Royals with 47 extra base hits and is batting .276.

Nolan Arenado leads the Cardinals with 53 extra base hits and is batting .261.

LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 4-6, .223 batting average, 4.30 ERA, outscored by six runs

Cardinals: 6-4, .269 batting average, 3.90 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs

INJURIES: Royals: Kyle Zimmer: (neck/trap), Jesse Hahn: (shoulder), Ronald Bolanos: (flexor), Adalberto Mondesi: (oblique).

Cardinals: Miles Mikolas: (forearm), Carlos Martinez: (thumb), Wade LeBlanc: (elbow), Kwang Hyun Kim: (elbow), Dakota Hudson: (elbow), Jordan Hicks: (elbow), Jack Flaherty: (oblique), Dylan Carlson: (wrist), Max Moroff: (shoulder).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.