The St. Louis Cardinals (50-65) and Tampa Bay Rays (69-47) close out a 3-game set at Tropicana Field Thursday. First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. ET (MLB Network). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Cardinals vs. Rays odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.
Season series: tied 1-1
The Cardinals evened the series with a 6-4 win Wednesday. They actually could easily have won both games, but they allowed 4 runs across the 7th and 8th innings Tuesday to fall 4-2. St. Louis is 4-6 and 8-12 over the last 10 and 20 games, respectively. It remains 11 1/2 games out in the NL Central and 9 1/2 out of an NL Wild Card berth.
The Rays are scuffling a bit as they’re 9-11 over the last 20 and 12-18 over the last 30. They sit 2 games out in the AL East but own the top AL Wild Card spot. Tampa Bay is a great home team at 38-20 and has excelled against left-handed pitching at 14-6.