Royals bring road skid into matchup against the Cardinals

Kansas City Royals (19-25, fifth in the AL Central) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (25-18, third in the NL Central)

St. Louis; Friday, 8:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Michael Wacha (4-2, 2.63 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 42 strikeouts); Cardinals: Dustin May (3-4, 4.85 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 32 strikeouts)

LINE: Cardinals -114, Royals -105; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals will try to end their three-game road skid in a matchup with the St. Louis Cardinals.

St. Louis has a 10-10 record in home games and a 25-18 record overall. Cardinals pitchers have a collective 4.29 ERA, which ranks 10th in the NL.

Kansas City has a 6-15 record in road games and a 19-25 record overall. The Royals have a 4-7 record in games decided by one run.

The teams meet Friday for the first time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jordan Walker leads the Cardinals with 21 extra base hits (nine doubles and 12 home runs). Alec Burleson is 10 for 40 with two doubles, a home run and three RBIs over the last 10 games.

Bobby Witt Jr. has a .306 batting average to lead the Royals, and has 11 doubles, a triple and seven home runs. Maikel Garcia is 11 for 38 with five RBIs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 5-5, .237 batting average, 3.27 ERA, outscored by one run

Royals: 4-6, .238 batting average, 4.55 ERA, outscored by three runs

INJURIES: Cardinals: Matt Pushard: 15-Day IL (knee), Ramon Urias: 10-Day IL (elbow), Lars Nootbaar: 60-Day IL (heels)

Royals: Bailey Falter: 15-Day IL (elbow), Cole Ragans: 15-Day IL (elbow), Carlos Estevez: 15-Day IL (foot), Jonathan India: 10-Day IL (shoulder), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow), Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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