St. Louis Cardinals at Tampa Bay Rays Betting Preview
The St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays are set to play their third and final game of the series on Thursday. The Rays won the opening game of the series by a score of 4-2. St. Louis came back with a win in Game 2. With the win, the Cardinals moved to 50-65 on the season. With the loss, Tampa dropped to 69-47 on the season.
The Tampa Bay Rays are favorites in this game. The Rays are -170, while the Cardinals are +142 on Thursday.
Cardinals 2023 Has Been One to Forget
St. Louis got the scoring started in the first inning with an Alex Burleson RBI. After falling behind, Nolan Arenado tied the game up in the third inning, and Jordan Walker gave them the lead. Later in the game, Paul Goldschmidt drove in two runs to extend the lead. Arenado leads the team with 81 RBIs, while Goldschmidt is up to 59. Lars Nootbaar hit his 12th home run of the season later in the game.
The Cardinals have moved into a tie for 6th in all of baseball with their .258 batting average. The pitching has been the biggest struggle, allowing the 8th most runs in all of baseball. Opponents are hitting .272 against the Cardinals, which is the second worst in all of Major League Baseball.
The Cardinals are going to pitch lefthander Matthew Liberatore in this game. Liberatore came up with the Tampa Bay Rays and was part of the trade that sent Randy Arozarena to the Rays. Liberatore has struggled this season big time. The 23-year-old has made eight starts and is 1-4 with a 6.93 earned run average.
He is coming off an outing against the Twins, where he only lasted 5.2 innings, allowing six hits and five runs. In his previous outing on July 5th, he recorded just one out, allowing four runs at Miami.
Rays Looking to Win Series; Keep Pace in American League
The bright spot in the loss on Wednesday was Jose Siri going deep twice in the game. Siri now has a team-leading 23 home runs on the season. Isaac Paredes leads the team with 67 runs batted in. Wander Franco also drove in a run in the loss, and he has 54 now on the season.
The Rays are struggling to find starting pitching, as they have lost four starters, including their ace Shane McClanahan. It is unlikely that he will pitch again this season. He has an injured left forearm.
Zack Littell is the starting pitcher for Tampa Bay in this game. Littell is 2-2 on the season with a 4.04 earned run average. He has thrown just 35.2 innings this season and has 31 strikeouts and five walks. The last time he threw was on August 4th at Detroit. It was his fourth start of the season, and he picked up a win. He finished, going six innings and not allowing a single run.
Cardinals Win Road Game
The Cardinals are going to win this game. St. Louis has had a terrible season, but this is a game they will win on the road. Look for the lefthander Liberatore to be solid, and the Rays bats go silent. The Cardinals win this game at +142.
