St. Louis Cardinals vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction 8-8-24 MLB Picks

The Tampa Bay Rays and the St. Louis Cardinals meet Thursday in MLB action from Busch Stadium. Here’s a St. Louis Cardinals vs Tampa Bay Rays prediction. This will be the final installment in a three-game series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Cardinals vs Rays pick.

Tampa Bay Rays Betting Preview

Over the weekend the Rays took on the Houston Astros. Tampa Bay lost 3-2 in the opener but won the next pair for a series victory. Following a 4-3 loss to the Cardinals on Tuesday, in game two the Rays took a 5-2 loss. Starter Taj Bradley finished with 4.2 innings and five earned runs.

In the starter slot for Thursday it’ll be Tampa’s Shane Baz. This year Baz is 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA in five starts. In his career Baz is 3-3 with a 3.86 ERA in 14 starts. The Rays will meet the Orioles after this series.

St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview

Over on the Cardinals’ side, they played a one-off game versus the New York Mets on Monday. St. Louis ended up losing that one in a blowout 6-0. After their Tuesday win, in the Wednesday matchup the Cards scored twice in both the third and fourth innings. Erick Fedde managed 5.0 innings and one earned run as starter.

Kyle Gibson will start for St. Louis on Thursday. This year Gibson is 7-4 with a 4.04 ERA in 21 starts. Gibson is 111-104 with a 4.51 ERA in 321 games (315 starts) over his career.

Total Runs Facts

• Each of the Rays’ last seven games against NL Central opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
• Each of the Cardinals’ last four games have gone UNDER the total runs line.
• The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Rays’ last seven games as road underdogs against National League opponents.
• The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the last four night games between the Rays and Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

St. Louis Cardinals Player Prop Facts

• Masyn Winn has recorded a Double in each of the Cardinals’ last five games against AL East opponents at Busch Stadium.
• Masyn Winn has scored at least one run in seven of the Cardinals’ last eight night games.
• Alec Burleson has recorded at least one Single in 10 of his last 11 appearances against AL East opponents.
• Tommy Pham has recorded at least one total base in each of his last 10 home appearances.
• Tommy Pham has recorded at least one RBI in each of his last four appearances against AL opponents.
• Tommy Pham has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 10 home appearances.
• Tommy Pham has hit a home run in each of his last two appearances with the Cardinals as favorites against the Rays.

Tampa Bay Rays Player Prop Facts

• Josh Lowe has recorded a Double in three of the Rays’ last four games against NL opponents.
• Brandon Lowe has hit a home run in two of the Rays’ last three games against NL opponents that held a winning record.
• Brandon Lowe has recorded at least one RBI in each of the Rays’ last four games against opponents that held a winning record.
• Jose Siri has recorded at least one Single in each of the Rays’ last five night games against opponents that held a winning record.
• Brandon Lowe has scored at least one run in nine of his last 10 road appearances against NL opponents.
• Jose Siri has recorded at least one total base in each of the Rays’ last 10 games against opponents that held a winning record.
• Jose Siri has recorded at least one hit in each of the Rays’ last 10 games against opponents that held a winning record.
• Jose Caballero ranks 4th in the league in Steals (30) this season.

Matchup/League Facts

• The St. Louis Cardinals rank 24th in the league for strikeouts this season (918).
• The St. Louis Cardinals rank 7th in the league for walks allowed this season (320).
• The Tampa Bay Rays rank 28th in the league for runs scored this season (446).
• The Tampa Bay Rays rank 28th in the league for RBI’s this season (417).

St. Louis Cardinals vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction

I’ll try the Cardinals in this one. Gibson didn’t have the greatest start his last time out, giving up four earned in 7.0 innings versus the Cubs. In the two starts prior to that however, Gibson posted three earned in 11.2 innings of work. As for Baz, he’s got four earned over his last 11.1 innings total.

On Wednesday the Cardinals bagged nine team hits but those only belonged to five different batters. Still, it was a pretty nice all-around effort to snag another win. I like St. Louis well enough to potentially make this series a sweep Thursday.