Tampa Bay Rays vs. St. Louis Cardinals Preview and Pick

Tampa Bay Rays (24-17) – Andy Sonnanstine -102, 9 O/U at St. Louis Cardinals (24-19) – Braden Looper -108, 9 O/U, Busch Stadium, 8:15 PM EST, Friday
by Badger of Predictem.com

Two of the biggest surprises in all of Major League Baseball this season meet head-to-head when the Tampa Bay Rays take on the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium in interleague play Friday. This series should be fun to watch too, as both teams are heading in opposite directions at the moment.

The Rays are off to their best start in franchise history, and not only come into the three-game series with the Cards at seven games above .500, but also on top the American League East standings with a one-game lead over Boston. The Rays also come into the series with serious momentum after taking three-of-four over the hated New York Yankees last series and with an 8-2 record in their last 10 games overall.

The Cardinals come into the series looking to try and turn around a bad start to their short six-game home stand. Losing two-of-three to Pittsburgh hurts enough, but it came following a 3-5 road trip and in painful fashion as closer Jason Isringhausen blew another save opportunity in Thursday’s 11-5 loss. The Cards have given back virtually all of their fast start and now sit two-games behind the Cubs in the NL Central.

The scheduled starters for the series opener Friday are Tampa righty Andy Sonnanstine and St. Louis righty Braden Looper. Sonnanstine (5-1, 5.07) had won four straight decisions before getting a no- decision last time out, while Looper (5-2, 4.21) lost his last time out (5-3 to Milwaukee) but has been solid in just about every outing prior to then.

Baseball oddsmakers are letting the public set the line for this game, since they opened the game with St. Louis (-108) and Tampa (-102) as close to a pick-em as you get in baseball. The over/under total opened at 9.

These two have meet in interleague play before, with St. Louis sweeping a three-game series from the then really bad Devil Rays at old Busch Stadium in 2005. St. Louis was 6-9 in interleague play last year, while Tampa will be trying to improve last year’s 7-11 record in interleague action.

Neither starting pitcher has done much in interleague action either. Sonnanstine is 1-2 with a 6.16 ERA in his three starts, while Looper is 6-6 with a 5.66 ERA (mostly as a reliever) and lost all three starts he had last year against an AL team.

The Rays, who have benefited from great starting pitching during their win streak, will need to keep an eye on Albert Pujols. The St. Louis slugger has hit safely in all 42 games he’s played this season, and enjoys a .344 average in interleague play in his career.

Strong betting trends line up on the over bet in this game and series. Tampa has gone over in 22 of their last 27 interleague road games, while St. Louis has gone over in nine of their 13 interleague games at Busch Stadium and in 23 of their last 33 overall.

Looper’s one bad game all season was in Busch on April 20th (3 IP, 10 H, 7 R), but overall throughout his career he has enjoyed his home turf and the Cardinals are 13-6 in his last 19 home starts.

Badger’s Pick: Interleague play at the National League park is always interesting for the American League team (i.e. no DH), but I still think this game goes over the total of 9 tonight. Don’t underestimate the Cardinals and Isringhausen’s bullpen struggle. Looper will wear down at some point, and sooner than later the Cards bullpen will need to come in. Take the over of 9.

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