The state of Missouri will clash on Friday night at 8:15 p.m. when the St. Louis Cardinals (39-21) host the Kansas City Royals (34-23) for a three-game series at Busch Stadium. Each club has the best record in their respective leagues and once again has their sights on a deep postseason run.
Kansas City will send Yordano Ventura (3-5, 4.62 ERA) to the mound to face Jaime Garcia (1-3, 2.67 ERA) tonight and the two hope to keep their pitching staffs atop the MLB. The Cardinals have the best ERA (2.71) in the league and the Royals rank fourth (3.36).
Ventura was expected to build off his successful 2014 campaign this season, but he's struggled to stay consistent thus far and has only four quality starts out of his 11. He faced St. Louis back in May and surrendered four earned runs on five hits and two walks in a 6-1 loss. The Royals' offense was unable to provide run support after being stymied by Michael Wacha, who is 8-2 with a 2.45 ERA on the year.
The 24-year-old Ventura heads into his third matchup against the Cardinals tonight. He's 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA in his last two outings facing St. Louis.
As for Garcia, the left-hander will endure a tough test against the Royals talented lineup. Kansas City was among the best offenses in the MLB, but now ranks 14th due to a lack of production this month. They've scored just 25 runs in their past 10 games.
The Cardinals offense has performed in similar fashion when Garcia takes the hill. The team has failed to score a run in three of his four starts and the left-hander received three losses in outings where he surrendered two earned runs or less. He earned a win after his worst start of the season against the Arizona Diamondbacks (6 IP, 8H, 3ER).
On top of that, he hasn't had much success against the Royals throughout his career. The 28-year-old owns a 0-1 record with an 8.31 ERA and 1.673 WHIP in four starts against Kansas City.
Tonight's matchup sizes up to be pitcher's duel because neither team's offense has been performing well in recent weeks (St. Louis has scored 28 runs in their past 10 games, barely edging Kansas City). The Cardinals will also be without outfield Matt Holliday, who hit the disabled list with a strained quad this week. The 23-year-old Randal Grichuk will benefit from the veteran's absence.
Kansas City hopes to continue their success coming off a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins while St. Louis looks to shake off losing two out of three to the Colorado Rockies this week.
Check out the live stream for tonight's game here as well as the live radio broadcast here (if you're a Cardinals fan) or here (if you're a Royals fan).
