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Cardinals-Royals Preview

Jun 25, 2010 - 4:23 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

St. Louis (40-31) at Kansas City (30-43), 8:10 p.m. EDT

For the first time in five years, the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals are meeting for just a single series.

The Royals probably aren't complaining.

Albert Pujols and the Cardinals look to continue their dominance in the I-70 Series as they open this three-game set Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Separated by roughly 240 miles on opposite borders of Missouri, St. Louis and Kansas City have regularly finished on opposite ends of the standings. The NL Central-leading Cardinals (40-32) are seeking their fifth division title in seven seasons, while the Royals (30-43), owners of the AL's third-worst record, have finished fourth or worst in the AL Central each of the past six years.

Not surprisingly, St. Louis has had the upper hand in this series, winning seven of the last eight while going 18-6 in Kansas City since 2002. This is the first time since 2005 the rivals are playing only one series.

Pujols has been leading the charge in the I-70 Series for the Cardinals, who are coming off Thursday's 5-0 loss in Toronto.

The three-time NL MVP hit .444 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in six games against the Royals last season, and his .394 career batting average in 42 games against Kansas City is his highest against any opponent he's played more than 15 times. Pujols, who attended junior college in Kansas City, also has eight home runs and 22 RBIs in 12 games at Kauffman Stadium since 2006.

Pujols is 3 for 6 with a double against scheduled starter Zack Greinke (2-8, 3.94 ERA), but the Kansas City right-hander didn't face the Cardinals during his 2009 AL Cy Young Award-winning season.

Although he isn't pitching that poorly, Greinke likely won't be a repeat winner. The Royals staff ace, who has already matched last year's loss total, allowed four runs and six hits in seven innings in Saturday's 5-4 loss in Atlanta, but didn't receive a decision as Kansas City fell to 3-12 in Greinke's starts.

He is 1-2 with a 5.82 ERA in three career starts against St. Louis.

The Royals head into this series hoping to carry some momentum from handing rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg his first major league loss in a 1-0 win in Washington on Wednesday.

"We gave him his first loss, and I can tell my grandkids 10 years down the road," manager Ned Yost said.

Although the Royals snapped a five-game losing streak with the impressive victory over Strasburg and the Nationals, the offense is still sputtering.

Kansas City has totaled five runs in its last three games, with 28 of its 31 hits being singles.

The Royals will try to get things turned around against Jeff Suppan (0-2, 6.81).

Suppan hasn't pitched that bad in his first two starts since signing as a free agent with St. Louis, but hasn't been that efficient, either. After allowing one run in four innings in a win over Seattle on June 15, the right-hander gave up two runs and seven hits in 4 2-3 innings of Sunday's 3-2 loss to Oakland, but didn't get a decision.

"There were a few times where I missed - bad location, which was frustrating," Suppan said. "But I felt there was a lot of improvement."

Suppan, who played for the Royals from 1998-2002, hasn't had much luck against his former team, going 2-3 with a 6.16 ERA in six starts.