Cardinals vs Rays Prediction

pickdawgz.com

08 August 2023

The St. Louis Cardinals will play the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of their series on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. St. Louis has continued to be one of the most disappointing teams in baseball, while Tampa Bay has turned things around over the last couple of weeks.

Cardinals Preview

The St. Louis Cardinals are 49-64 this season and they have lost seven of their last ten games. St. Louis is coming off of a series loss to the Rockies, where they lost two out of three games. The Cardinals are only 24-31 on the road and they will be playing one of the best home teams here. The St. Louis pitching staff has a 4.52 ERA, a 1.44 WHIP, and a .271 opponent batting average this season. The Cardinals offense has scored 525 runs with a .258 batting average and a .331 on base percentage. Nolan Gorman is batting .245 with 24 home runs and 67 RBI’s for the Cardinals. The projected starting pitcher for St. Louis is Miles Mikolas, who is 6-7 with a 4.29 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP over 134.1 innings pitched this year.

Rays Preview

The Tampa Bay Rays are 68-46 this season and they have won five of their last seven games. Tampa Bay is coming off of a series win in Detroit, where they won two out of three games. The Rays went through a couple of months where they really struggled, but they have played much better over the last 11 games. The Tampa Bay pitching staff has a 3.79 ERA, a 1.19 WHIP, and a .230 opponent batting average. The Rays offense has scored 593 runs with a .255 batting average and a .328 on base percentage this year. Yandy Diaz is batting .315 with 16 home runs and 55 RBI’s for the Rays. The projected starting pitcher for Tampa Bay is Zach Eflin, who is 12-6 with a 3.46 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP over 122.1 innings pitched this season.

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Tampa Bay Rays Team Facts

The Rays have won each of their last eight games at Tropicana Field against National League opponents that held a losing record.
The Rays have failed to cover the run line in each of their last five home games following a win.
The Rays have led after 3 innings in each of their last three home night games.
The Rays have led after 7 innings in each of their last seven night games against the Cardinals.
The Rays have trailed after 5 innings in six of their last nine games as favourites against National League opponents.

St. Louis Cardinals Team Facts

The Cardinals have won each of their last four games as underdogs following a loss.
The Cardinals have failed to cover the run line in each of their last 10 Tuesday games against AL East opponents.
The Cardinals have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last five games at Tropicana Field against opponents that held a winning record.
The 'Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs' market has hit in each of the Cardinals' last six games as underdogs against American League opponents.
The Cardinals have led after 5 innings in each of their last four road night games.

Tampa Bay Rays Player Prop Facts

Zach Eflin has recorded six or more strikeouts in each of his five previous appearances with his team as a home favourite against NL Central opponents.
Brandon Lowe has hit a home run in three of his last five appearances with the Rays as favourites.
Brandon Lowe has recorded at least one hit in each of his last seven appearances with the Rays as favourites.
Yandy Diaz has recorded two or more total bases in seven of his last eight appearances against NL Central opponents at Tropicana Field.
Yandy Diaz has scored at least one run in six of his last seven appearances in night games against NL teams that held a losing record.
Wander Franco has recorded at least one RBI in eight of his last 10 home appearances after not playing the previous day.
Wander Franco ranks 5th in the league in Steals (29) this season.

St. Louis Cardinals Player Prop Facts

Nolan Arenado has scored at least one run in each of his last seven appearances against AL East opponents.
Nolan Arenado has recorded at least one RBI in five of his last six appearances in night games against AL East teams that held a winning record.
Miles Mikolas has recorded five or more strikeouts in four of his last five appearances with the Cardinals as underdogs against AL opponents.
Nolan Arenado has hit a home run in five of his last six road appearances against AL East opponents.
Nolan Arenado has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 11 appearances in night games against AL teams that held a winning record.
Nolan Arenado has recorded two or more total bases in each of the Cardinals' last six road games against AL opponents that held a winning record.

Matchup/League Facts

The Tampa Bay Rays ranks 1st in the league for runs allowed this season (446).
The Tampa Bay Rays ranks 2nd in the league for steals this season (121).
The St. Louis Cardinals ranks 29th in the league for hits allowed this season (1059).
The St. Louis Cardinals are one of only 4 teams in the league to rank top 10 in both home runs and batting average this season.

Pick

The Rays have won three series in a row and they are 37-19 at Tropicana Field this season. On the flip side, St. Louis has lost three series in a row and they are last in the NL Central. St. Louis is starting Miles Mikolas, who has allowed 11 earned runs in his last 18.2 innings of work. Tampa Bay is starting Zach Eflin, who has allowed 0, 5, 0, 5, and 2 earned runs in his last five starts. Both of these starting pitchers have been inconsistent in recent outings and I could see this game being high scoring. Take the over here.