Cardinals vs. Royals Prediction, Odds, Probable Pitchers, Prop Bets for Thursday, June 18

The St. Louis Cardinals are doing their best to catch the Milwaukee Brewers for the top spot in the National League Central, currently sitting 5.5 games back. Now, they'll face the 30-45 Kansas City Royals in a weekend series with a chance to make up some ground.

Let's dive into the odds and my best bets for tonight's series opener.

Cardinals vs. Royals Odds, Run Line, and Total

Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook

Run line

Cardinals -1.5 (+162)
Royals +1.5 (-196)

Moneyline

Cardinals +100
Royals -118

Total

OVER 9 (-104)
UNDER 9 (-118)

Cardinals vs. Royals Probable Pitchers

St. Louis: Matthew Liberatore, LHP (3-3, 4.71 ERA)
Kansas City: Noah Cameron, LHP (3-4, 4.11 ERA)

Cardinals vs. Royals How to Watch

Date: Thursday, June 18
Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
Venue: Kauffman Stadium
How to Watch (TV): Cardinals.TV, Royals.TV, KCTV5
Cardinals record: 40-32
Royals record: 30-45

Cardinals vs. Royals Best MLB Prop Bet

Bobby Witt Jr. Home Run (+410)

In today's edition of Daily Dinger, I made the case for betting on Bobby Witt Jr. to hit a home run:

Bobby Witt Jr. is another player who thrives when facing left-handed pitchers. His Slugging percentage improves from .428 against right-handed pitchers to .529 against left-handed pitchers. He and the Royals will take on a lefty starter in Matthew Liberatore, who has given up 1.8 home runs per nine innings pitched this season.

Witt Jr. is set at a great price at +410 to hit a home run tonight.

Cardinals vs. Royals Prediction and Pick

Matthew Liberatore has been far worse than his 4.71 ERA indicates. He has an xERA of 5.44 and an xBA of .385. He also ranks in the bottom 50th percentile in virtually every single metric, according to Baseball Savant.

Now could be a good time to buy low on the Royals' offense. After being one of the worst in the Majors for the bulk of the season thus far, they're now 13th in wRC+ over the past 14 days. If they keep that up, they'll be in a great position to get the win at home today.

Pick: Royals -118 via FanDuel

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