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posted June 19, 2008 at 13:23 in MLB Articles

The St. Louis Cardinals, (42-31, 40-33 RL) may own the hearts of the majority of fans in the ‘Show-Me’ state of Missouri, but it is the state’s ‘other’ team, the Kansas City Royals, (30-42, 34-38 RL) who have walked away with two straight one-run wins following their two interleague matchups against the Royals, including a 3-2 loss on Wednesday night.

Now, the Royals enter tonight’s series finale looking to sweep the Cardinals in the BetUS Sportsbook for the first time in seven seasons after improving to 6-2 in interleague games this season.

"It's a pretty good formula," winning pitcher Brian Bannister said. "I think we can get used to it."

The Royals have won four straight games overall after taking the final two games of their series against the Arizona Diamondbacks just prior to the start of their current series.

They will try to match their season-high five-game winning streak tonight.

"We've got another game tomorrow, so I don't want to be popping off," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "We've got a long ways to come back."

The BetUS online sports wagering community that likes its MLB Baseball wagering should know that the Royals are going to face a pitcher tonight that Is just making hi return from the DL in St. Louis starter Brad Thompson (1-1, 4.58 ERA) who will pitch for the first time since April 22 after replacing scheduled starter Anthony Reyes, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list with elbow problems.

Thompson was scheduled to make a start at Triple-A Memphis tonight, but will instead come off the disabled list to replace Reyes.

"I'm not going to make any excuses," manager Tony La Russa said. "Other teams have guys hurt. Part of dealing with it is not talking about it and not giving in to it."

The Royals may be happy to see Thompson who has posted a high, 7.71 ERA in his last four appearances out of the Cardinals’ bullpen and is just is 1-2 with a 5.50 ERA in 16 career interleague games.

Kansas City will turn to staff ace Zack Greinke (5-4, 3.48) to keep the Royals in the win column despite the fact that he has gone 0-3 in his last five starts with a 6.10 ERA. Greinke allowed a career-high seven walks but just three hits in seven innings in his last start, a 1-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.

Greinke is 3-0 in nine games and three interleague starts with a 2.35 ERA.

Here is a look at tonight’s key online sports wagering trends followed by my analysis and MLB online betting Free Picks.

The Royals are 4-0 in their last 4 interleague road games.

The Royals are 4-0 in their last 4 games as a road underdog.

The Cardinals are 4-0 in Thompson’s last 4 starts.

The Cardinals are 4-0 in Thompson’s last 4 starts as a favorite of -110 to -150.

The Over is 5-1-1 in Thompson’s last 7 starts during game 3 of a series.

The Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.

The Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings in St. Louis.

Analysis: The BetUS online baseball sports wagering community has an easy pick on their hands in this contest as Zack Greinke and the Kansas City Royals should take their third straight game in this contest by pounding Cardinals starter Brad Thompson while getting another quality start out of their staff ace.

MLB Free Picks: Royals 5 Cardinals 2

02:15 PM EST MLB Odds

Kansas City Royals

Zack Greinke - R

St Louis Cardinals

Brad Thompson - R

Interleague

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