St. Louis Cardinals Have Been Dominant in I-70 Series

As the St. Louis Cardinals (33-31) welcome their cross-state counterpart Kansas City Royals (27-34) to town this weekend, it could be an opportunity for them to dig further out of their recent funk.

The Cardinals are hanging on to a second-place tie with the Pittsburgh Pirates, three games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Central.

The team's regular-season record against the Royals, 38-28, dates back to 1997 and shows a Cardinals team that has handled them well.

Cardinals right-fielder Carlos Beltran, who was originally drafted by the Royals, is expected to be back in the lineup for Friday's game. To date, he has never faced the Royals.

Beltran is leading the National League with 19 home runs and is in the midst of one of his best seasons.

In the last five years, the Cardinals lead the I-70 series 15-12. Of those 27 games, only 12 were at Busch Stadium.

The edge goes to the Cardinals for the weekend as their front three starters will be facing the back of the Royals' rotation.

When the series kicks off Friday evening, Kyle Lohse (6-1, 2.90) will face off against Vin Mazzarro (2-1, 3.60). In 2012, Mazzarro has started only three games and surrendered eight walks and seven runs. Lohse has given up only 12 walks in 80.2 innings in 2012. He's surrendered 26 earned runs over the season, but only one total in his last two outings combined, and that came off of a home run.

Lohse put together good outings against the New York Mets and Cleveland Indians, pitching 13.2 innings and allowing only five total hits.

Mazzarro has made a pair of starts in his career against the Cardinals, but has never factored in a decision. In a total of 11 innings, the Cardinals have amassed 13 hits, seven runs, one home run and five walks against him, pushing his ERA against the team to 5.73.

Tentative weekend pitching matchups also seem to favor the Cardinals.

At 1:15 p.m. on Saturday, LHP Bruce Chen (5-6, 4.44) will take on Cardinals rookie RHP Joe Kelly (0-0, 1.80) as the latter makes his second career start.

At 1:15 p.m. on Sunday, RHP Luis Mendoza (2-3, 4.89) will face Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright (5-7, 4.75) as he pushes for his sixth win of the season. While Wainwright was handed a loss in his last start, he threw a solid seven innings, allowing only two runs.

Over his last 10 starts, Wainwright has made great strides in his return from Tommy John surgery. Over the period, he boasts a 3.66 ERA and 58 strikeouts.