The St. Louis Cardinals (49-64) and Tampa Bay Rays (68-46) open a 3-game set at Tropicana Field Tuesday. First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. ET. Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Cardinals vs. Rays odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.
Season series: First meeting; Rays won 3-0 in 2022.
Both teams had Monday off. The Cards enter this one amidst a 3-7 slide. They are 9-11 over the last 20 games but continue to pose a threat with a solid everyday lineup. St. Louis is 11 games out in the NL Central without much hope of playing October baseball. The Cards are 16-19 in interleague play this year.
The Rays are 6-4 over their last 10 games as they attempt to regain the AL East lead they held for much of the season. Tampa Bay sits 3 games back of the Baltimore Orioles in the division but still holds the top AL Wild Card spot. The Rays are 37-19 at home and 19-16 against the NL.
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Cardinals at Rays projected starters
RHP Miles Mikolas vs. RHP Zach Eflin
Mikolas (6-7, 4.29 ERA) makes his 25th start. He has a 1.29 WHIP, 1.7 BB/9 and 6.3 K/9 in 134 1/3 innings.
- Last start: Loss, 7 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 6 H, 1 BB, 7 K against Minnesota Twins last Tuesday
- Last start against Tampa: Loss, 8 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 9 K June 9, 2022, at Tropicana Field
Eflin (12-6, 3.46 ERA) makes his 22nd start. He has a 1.00 WHIP, 1.3 BB/9 and 8.9 K/9 in 122 1/3 innings.
- Last start: Win, 6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 5 K last Tuesday against New York Yankees
- Career vs. St. Louis: 1-1, 4.42 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 18 K in 18 1/3 IP over 3 starts
Cardinals at Rays odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:25 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Cardinals +145 (bet $100 to win $145) | Rays -175 (bet $175 to win $100)
- Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Cardinals +1.5 (-145) | Rays -1.5 (+120)
- Over/Under (O/U): 8.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
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Cardinals at Rays picks and predictions
Prediction
Rays 4, Cardinals 3
Moneyline
Tampa has the advantage in the batter’s box and on the mound. The Rays score 5.4 runs per game, and the Cardinals plate 4.7. The Rays have a 3.85 team ERA, and the Cards’ have a futile 4.58.
If St. Louis were to win one game in this series, this would probably be it. However, I don’t think they have enough to get it done Tuesday. I also don’t like taking the Rays at -175.
PASS.
Run line/Against the spread
The Cards have gone 31-24 on the RL on the road this season. They have played a ton of 1-run games this year, which they are 9-23 in. The Rays are just 29-27 on the RL at home. The last time these teams met, Mikolas was on the mound, and it ended in a 2-1 Rays win.
I’ll take the CARDINALS +1.5 (-145).
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Over/Under
The Cards are 3-7 O/U over the last 10, and Tampa is 5-5. Two of the 3 games these teams played last season went Under. The Cardinals are averaging 3.1 runs per game over the last 10. The Rays are averaging 4.9 runs during that stretch. It could go either way, but I will LEAN UNDER 8.5 (-115).
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