In their first matchup in five years, Two playoff hopefuls go toe-to-toe on the diamond this evening as the St. Louis Cardinals travel to The Sunshine State to take on the Tampa Bay Rays. Join us for our MLB odds series, where our Cardinals-Rays prediction and pick will be revealed.

 

St. Louis enters play on Tuesday after facing off with the Cubs a handful of times and coming up with three wins against them. Now almost a full ten games above .500 at 32-23, the Cards will have one of their better performing pitchers take the mound in righty Dakota Hudson, who has compiled a 4-2 record and 2.96 ERA in his ten games started on the campaign.

Sitting at a nearly identical 31-23 mark, the Rays are in the midst of a two-game slide after dropping a pair to the White Sox over the weekend and are in third place in the AL East behind the Yankees and Blue Jays. Tampa Bay will give the reigns to the southpaw himself in Jeffery Springs, who is 2-2 with an impressive 1.88 ERA.

Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Cardinals-Rays MLB odds.

MLB Odds: Cardinals-Rays Odds

St. Louis Cardinals: +1.5 (-152)

Tampa Bay Rays: -1.5 (+126)

Over: 7.5 (-110)

Under: 7.5 (-110)

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Why The Cardinals Could Cover the Spread

Winners in six of their past eight matchups, the Cardinals are possibly playing their best ball of the season and are well within striking distance of the Brewers, as St. Louis now only sits a half-game out of the first-place spot in the division. The Cardinals have demonstrated through their 55 games completed that they can win in a numerous amount of ways. Whether it's longtime great Albert Pujols supplying his squad with a win by walking it off, or youngsters like first-baseman Juan Yepez who helped bring home the victory on Sunday in dramatic fashion during the 11th inning, this team simply knows how to win ballgames.

A big reason that the Cardinals might cover the spread on Tuesday is due to the stellar play of late from Nolan Gorman, who outside of Paul Goldschmidt has been one of St. Louis' hottest hitters. Over his last ten games, Gorman is absolutely crushing the ball, as he is 9-25 with three home runs a nine RBIs during his torrid stretch. As a team, the ‘Cards have outscored their opponents by 11 runs and have hit a productive .261 in their last ten games played on the diamond.

While the Cardinals have lost seven of their last ten meetings against the American League Rays, they should feel good about things considering how effective Hudson has been on the hill. With Tuesday marking his first-ever outing versus Tampa Bay, Hudson may be the difference-maker for the Cardinals if he can continue his solid display of pitching of late. In his last outing, the 27-year-old hurler managed to pitch seven innings and only surrendered one run on four hits in the process.

Why The Rays Could Cover the Spread

A group that is very evenly matched with St. Louis, the Rays are a type of squad that can beat the best of the best when they are clicking on all cylinders. While they did not play their best against the White Sox over the weekend which resulted in them losing that three-game series, the Rays are due for a lengthy winning streak that could very well occur starting on Tuesday versus St. Louis.

The downside? Tampa Bay has no doubt struggled at times at the plate in 2022, as they have only generated 223 runs on offense and have hit a sluggish .231 at the plate, both of which rank 23rd in all of baseball statistically. Despite the struggles, look for OF Randy Arozarena to be a contributing factor in this one, as the 27-year-old from Cuba is 10-35 with two home runs and six RBIs in his past ten games played.

Have no fear, for the pitching prowess is here! If it wasn't for the superior pitching numbers that the Rays have been able to accomplish this season, the Rays may as well be as good as dead. While the hitting numbers are among some of the league's worst, the opposite could be said about the arms on this roster. Tampa Bay has tossed to the fourth-best ERA at 3.31 in the majors while also only letting teams hit a .225 average against them through their 54 games played. This facet of their game will obviously be a big reason why the Rays should have a chance to cover against the Cardinals on Tuesday.

Final Cardinals-Rays Prediction & Pick

All baseball fans should be in for a treat when this inter-league contest is underway in a few short hours, as both sides possess the ability to get the job done this evening. However, the Cardinals have proven that they are a pretty solid team out on the road, which should do the team in red favors as they play within the confines of Tropicana Field on Tuesday.

Final Cardinals-Rays Pick: Cardinals +1.5 (-152)