Royals at Cardinals Game 1 prediction: Odds, expert picks, starting pitchers, trends, and stats for June 5
Its Thursday, June 5 and the Royals (32-29) are in St. Louis to take on the Cardinals (33-27) in a day/night doubleheader following yesterday's rainout.
Let's talk about Game 1. Noah Cameron is slated to take the mound for Kansas City against Miles Mikolas for St. Louis.
The Royals opened the series with a 10-7 win. The ten runs were the most KC scored since a 10-0 win on May 8. Savor the moment Royals' fans as this is a team that is the third-worst in baseball producing only 204 runs on the season. Only Colorado and Pittsburgh have scored fewer runs.
Lets dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.
We've got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch tipoff, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Follow Rotoworld Player News for the latest fantasy and betting player news and analysis all season long.
Game details & how to watch Royals at Cardinals - Game 1
Date: Thursday, June 5, 2025
Time: 1:45PM EST
Site: Busch Stadium
City: St. Louis, MO
Network/Streaming: FDSNKC, FDSNMW
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Odds for the Royals at the Cardinals - Game 1
The latest odds as of Thursday:
Moneyline: Royals (+110), Cardinals (-131)
Spread: Cardinals -1.5
Total: 8.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for Royals at Cardinals - Game 1
Pitching matchup for June 5, 2025: Noah Cameron vs. Miles Mikolas
Royals: Noah Cameron (2-1, 1.05 ERA)
Last outing: 5/28 vs. Cincinnati - 6.1IP, 1ER, 6H, 2BB, 2KsCardinals: Miles Mikolas (4-2, 3.90 ERA)
Last outing: 5/28 at Baltimore - 4IP, 4ER, 9H, 0BB, 3Ks
Royals: Noah Cameron (2-1, 1.05 ERA)
Last outing: 5/28 vs. Cincinnati - 6.1IP, 1ER, 6H, 2BB, 2Ks
Cardinals: Miles Mikolas (4-2, 3.90 ERA)
Last outing: 5/28 at Baltimore - 4IP, 4ER, 9H, 0BB, 3Ks
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Royals at Cardinals - Game 1
Willson Contreras is riding a modest 4-game hitting streak (4-15)
Salvador Perez is 4-9 to open June
St. Louis is 6-4 over their last 10 games to keep pace in the NL Central sitting 4.5 games behind the Cubs
Kansas City is 4-6 over their last 10 games to drop 8 games behind Detroit in the AL Central
If you're looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks & predictions for today's Game 1 between the Royals and the Cardinals
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Thursday's game between the Royals and the Cardinals:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the St. Louis Cardinals on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the St. Louis Cardinals at -1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the over on the Game Total of 8.0.
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC
Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)

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