St. Louis vs Tampa Bay | MLB Odds Favorites to Win

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It’s a potential World Series preview on Tuesday night when the St. Louis Cardinals visit the Tampa Bay Rays. Not a likely World Series matchup but certainly possible with both likely to make the playoffs. Let’s take a look at the following analysis for your MLB Odds.

How to Bet Cardinals at Rays MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 7:10 PM ET
Where: Petco Park
Probable pitchers (away/home): Dakota Hudson/Jeffrey Springs
TV: MLB Extra Innings
Stream/gameday audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/
Opening MLB Lines: Rays -145, Cardinals +135 (total 7.5)

Why Bet on St. Louis?

The Cardinals enter on a two-game winning streak after a 5-3 win at the Cubs in 11 innings on Sunday. Juan Yepez singled home automatic runner Nolan Gorman to lead off the 11th inning, and Brendan Donovan doubled in an insurance run. Harrison Bader’s second hit of the game was a triple to the wall in center field off Rowan Wick leading off the ninth. Bader scored on a single by pinch-hitter Lars Nootbaar, tying the game. Bader is now slashing .271/.311/.392 with five homers, 18 RBI and 14 stolen bases on the season.

Nolan Arenado went 1-for-5 and drove in a pair of runs in the win. Arenado got the Cardinals on the board with a game-tying two-run single off of Justin Steele in the fifth inning. That would be the extent of the Cardinals scoring until the ninth inning. He has cooled off a bit in recent weeks, but is still slashing a healthy .278/.347/.495 with 10 homers and 39 RBI on the year.

Albert Pujols (1-for-3) tied Cal Ripken Jr. for eighth-most games played in MLB history (3,001). His fourth-inning single was the 3,319th hit of his career, tying Paul Molitor for ninth-most in major league history.

Outfielder Corey Dickerson was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday with a left calf strain. He hit .212 with two home runs over his last 10 games. Dickerson suffered the injury in the first half of Saturday’s doubleheader. Outfielder Tyler O’Neill (shoulder) went 0-for-4 with a strikeout Sunday in a minor league rehab game for Triple-A Memphis. O’Neill collected a pair of hits, including a solo homer Saturday, and has gone 2-for-8 over a pair of contests on his minor league rehab assignment. The 26-year-old slugger is expected to return to the Cardinals’ lineup for Tuesday’s series opener against the Rays.

It’s Dakota Hudson (4-2) scheduled on the mound Tuesday. Hudson limited the Padres to just one run over seven innings of work last Wednesday in the Cardinals’ 5-2 win. Hudson had averaged less than five innings per start over his previous four outings, and it looked like it might be another short afternoon after he gave up two hits and a run to the first two batters of the game. He cruised after that, though, retiring 18 batters in a row at one point. Hudson didn’t strike out a single batter through the first six innings, but all three of his outs in his final frame came via the punchout.

Hudson will be making his 1st career start and appearance against the Rays. It’s also his 1st career game pitched against an American League East club. He’s 3-4, 3.97 ERA in 11 career games (9 starts) in interleague play with five of those games coming against Kansas City. This marks his 3rd interleague start of the 2022 season. The previous two were both against Kansas City (0-1, 5.40 ERA; 10.0 IP/6 ER, 3 HR).

Why Bet on Tampa Bay?

The Rays have lost two in a row following a 6-5 home defeat vs. the White Sox on Sunday. The Rays have been treading water for nearly a month with a 13-13 record in their last 26 games. Taylor Walls singled Sunday in his return to the Rays’ lineup. Walls wound up missing three consecutive games due to right calf soreness, but was able to get back into the Rays’ starting lineup for Sunday’s series finale against the White Sox. The 25-year-old figures to continue filling in at shortstop until young star Wander Franco is ready to return from the injured list.

Franco (quad) hasn’t resumed baseball activity. Franco has been limited to rest and treatment as he continues to recover from a right quad strain that sent him to the injured list for just the second time in his young career back in late May. The 21-year-old franchise cornerstone is expected to return to the Rays’ lineup at some point in mid-June. Despite battling through a series of minor leg issues this season, he’s recorded a strong .270/.305/.421 triple-slash line with 27 runs scored, four homers, 19 RBI and four steals across 190 plate appearances.

Mike Zunino went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run Sunday. Zunino took Lucas Giolito yard in the sixth inning to record his fifth homer of the campaign. He’s collected only 17 hits in 112 at-bats this season, eight of which have gone for extra bases. Closer Andrew Kittredge was activated from the injured list before Sunday’s game. He missed two weeks with a back issue.

It’s Jeffrey Springs (2-2) on the mound Tuesday. Springs surrendered two runs on five hits over five innings while taking a no-decision in last Wednesday’s 11-inning win over the Rangers. Spring struck out seven and walked one on the evening. Both runs came on solo homers, with Sam Huff and Nathaniel Lowe doing the dishonors in the second and fourth innings, respectively. The 29-year-old southpaw has allowed more than two runs just once in 14 appearances (six starts) this season. He will carry a strong 1.86 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 40/8 K/BB ratio (38 1/3 innings) into Tuesday.

Since moving to the starting rotation full-time on May 9, Springs is 1-2 with a 2.49 ERA (25.1-IP, 7-ER), 0.91 WHIP and 26 SO in 5 starts. He will be making his second app against the Cardinals, previously facing them on May 18, 2019 at home. He entered the game in the 7th with the Rangers trailing, 8-2, and allowed a run in 3 innings.

Since May 13, 2021, the Rays are 63-30 at home, best in the AL and 2nd in the majors behind the Dodgers. The Rays have pitched to a majors-best 2.82 ERA at home over that same span. The Rays haven’t been swept at home (regardless of series length) since April 19-21, 2019 vs. Boston, the longest streak in the majors. The Rays haven’t faced the Cardinals since Aug. 25-27, 2017 at Busch Stadium (2-1).

Game Trends

Cardinals are 5-1 in their last 6 vs. a team with a winning record.
Cardinals are 13-3 in their last 16 road games vs. a left-handed starter.
Cardinals are 4-1 in their last 5 interleague road games vs. a left-handed starter.
Cardinals are 4-1 in their last 5 interleague road games.
Rays are 11-5 in their last 16 Tuesday games.
Rays are 45-21 in their last 66 interleague games.
Rays are 89-43 in their last 132 games as a favorite.