Royals' Noah Cameron chases elusive win in clash vs. Cards

Noah Cameron has pitched well against the St. Louis Cardinals during his young career but has nothing to show for it.

The left-hander will look for better fortune when he takes the mound on Thursday as the Royals open a three-game series against the visiting Cardinals.

Cameron (3-4, 4.11 ERA) enjoyed a strong rookie 2025 season, posting a 9-7 record and 2.99 ERA in 24 starts and finishing fourth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting. Though 2026 has been inconsistent, he notched a string of four quality starts in five outings before allowing a pair of two-run homers over 4 1/3 innings in Kansas City's 8-7 loss to Houston on Saturday.

"Two bad pitches," Cameron said. "Didn't execute."

Cameron hasn't had much trouble with execution while posting a 1.96 ERA versus St. Louis, which is batting .148 against him.

However, the Royals lost all three of those contests, with Cameron being saddled with two defeats. He yielded the only run of the game on May 17, 2025 -- a Jordan Walker homer over 6 1/3 innings in a 1-0 loss. He scattered two hits over six scoreless innings the following month, however Kansas City's bullpen blew a 3-0 lead in the 6-5 loss at St. Louis.

Then last month, Cameron gave up three runs in six innings of the Royals' 4-2 setback against the Cardinals.

"Obviously, you can't be mad about quality starts," Cameron said.

Kansas City has dropped three straight series at home, where it is mired in a 4-12 rut. However, the Royals have some momentum entering the I-70 series after they avoided being swept at Washington with a 6-2 win on Wednesday afternoon.

Carter Jensen homered among his four hits and Lane Thomas, Michael Massey and John Rave also went deep for the Royals.

"We've got to score runs and (the pitching staff has) to prevent them when we are ahead," Thomas told The Kansas City Star. "You know, as long as we do that, two out of three days a series, I think we will be OK."

Kansas City dropped two of three last month at St. Louis.

The Cardinals had won nine of 12 before dropping a 6-1 decision to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday.

Scheduled Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore (3-3, 4.71) did not face the Royals in the previous series and is 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA in four career appearances (two starts) versus Kansas City.

The left-hander hopes to get back on track after he allowed nine runs -- seven earned -- and four homers over 8 2/3 innings in his last two starts.

Alec Burleson drove in the Cardinals' run Wednesday and is batting .310 with 18 RBIs during a 17-game hitting streak. He's a career .302 hitter with 10 RBIs in 14 games versus Kansas City.

"He's one of those guys who has a really good plan, and commits to it," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of Burleson, who is 0-for-4 against Cameron.

"That's what allows him to have success."

Jensen, meanwhile, is batting .361 with two home runs and nine RBIs in his last nine games. Teammate Salvador Perez is hitting just .200 on the season, but he is 4-for-7 with a homer versus Liberatore.

Kansas City has been ravaged with injuries this season, and All-Star third baseman Maikel Garcia could miss a second straight game with a nagging hand injury.

--Field Level Media