ST. LOUIS -- Kansas City may be 14 games under .500 and only 9-26 against the Cardinals, but St. Louis knows better.

Record-wise, the I-70 series has not been much of a contest, but the Cardinals always seem to pit themselves against a scrappy Royals club. If history were to continue on Tuesday, this week should not be any different.

Only two players on the Cardinals have spent time with the Royals -- starting pitcher Todd Wellemeyer and backup catcher Jason LaRue.

Cast aside by the Royals when he was put on waivers, Wellemeyer was picked up by the Cardinals and has flourished under pitching coach Dave Duncan. While at Kansas City, Wellemeyer went 1-3 out of the bullpen, with a 5.08 ERA.

Last year, LaRue hit .148 with four home runs and 13 RBIs in 66 games while serving as the backup catcher for the Royals.

Now they both get to face the team that didn't think much of either of them.

Like usual, however, manager Tony La Russa cast aside any thoughts on the series until the Cardinals were able to celebrate their 7-6 win against the Phillies on Sunday afternoon.

"I haven't thought about it and I'm not going to think about it," La Russa said. "This is enjoy the moment and that's what tomorrow's for. This is a time to enjoy a series win."

Pitching matchup
STL: RHP Joel Pineiro (2-3, 4.41 ERA)
Pineiro gave up just two runs on three hits through five innings of work against the Reds on Thursday. It was his first start since returning from the 15-day disabled list, where he was nursing a strained right groin. He threw just 69 pitches -- 47 going for strikes -- with one walk and six strikeouts. One of his earned runs came on a sacrifice squeeze, while another came when Reds starter Bronson Arroyo hit his fourth career home run in the fifth.

KC: RHP Kyle Davies (2-0, 1.53 ERA)
After winning his first two starts, Davies lapsed into control problems against the Rangers on Wednesday night. He walked five and gave up seven hits, but still managed to get through six innings with one run across the plate. He left with a 5-1 lead, but the bullpen coughed up 10 runs in an 11-5 loss. Command of his fastball has plagued Davies in the past and he worked hard at Triple-A Omaha to remedy that. He had walked just one in his previous outing. Although Davies formerly pitched for the Braves, this will be his first appearance against the Cardinals.

Tidbits
Aaron Miles broke an 0-14 streak in the third inning on Sunday when he singled off Brett Myers. ... Trailing only the Cubs, the Cardinals have the second-most wins in the National League. ... The Cards begin a stretch of 12 straight Interleague games on Tuesday when they play Kansas City (3) and travel to Boston, Detroit and Kansas City. ... The Cardinals sold out their third straight game on Sunday. In all, 45,391 fans attended Sunday's series finale against the Phillies.

Tickets
 Buy tickets now to catch the game in person.

On the Internet
 MLB.TV
 Gameday Audio
•  Gameday
•  Official game notes

On television
• FSN-HD

On radio
• KTRS 550

Up next
• Wednesday: Cardinals (Joel Pineiro, 2-3, 4.41) vs. Royals (Brian Bannister, 5-6, 5.00), 7:15 p.m. CT
• Thursday: Cardinals (Todd Wellemeyer, 7-2, 3.67) vs. Royals (Zack Greinke, 5-4, 3.48), 1:15 p.m. CT
• Friday: Cardinals (TBD) at Red Sox (TBD), 6:05 p.m. CT