Cardinals vs Rays Picks and Predictions: St. Louis Punishes Springs

The Tampa Bay Rays will be looking to avoid a three-game losing streak when they host a St. Louis Cardinals team that has won eight of its last 11. 

The Rays are sending Jeffrey Springs to the hill to stop the bleeding, and the lefty has been stellar since becoming a starting pitcher. The Cardinals will respond with Dakota Hudson on the mound. 

Will Springs help lead Tampa Bay to a victory? You’ll want to keep reading our Cardinals vs. Rays MLB picks and predictions to find out what we think.

Cardinals vs Rays odds

This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.

The Rays opened as -140 favorites in this game and are now up to as high as -164. The best price you’ll find on Tampa Bay is now -149. The total, which opened at 8, is now mostly at 7.5.

Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until first pitch and be sure to check out the full MLB odds before placing your bets.

Cardinals vs Rays predictions

• Prediction: Cardinals ML (+140)
• Prediction: Under 8 (-115)
• Best bet: Rays TT Under 4 (-110)

Picks made on 6/7/2022 at 11:00 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.

Cardinals vs Rays game info

• Location: Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay, FL
• Date: Tuesday, June 7, 2022
• First pitch: 7:10 p.m. ET
• TV: Bally Sports Midwest, Bally Sports Sun

Cardinals vs Rays betting preview

Starting pitchers

Dakota Hudson (4-2, 2.96 ERA): Hudson is off to a great start to the 2022 season, as the 27-year-old has a sub-3.00 ERA and has already started more games than he did in the previous two years combined. Hudson is coming off a game in which he gave up only one earned run in seven innings in a 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres. He is, however, 1-2 with a 4.68 ERA on the road, so he’ll need to find a way to get comfortable here.

Jeffrey Springs (2-2, 1.88 ERA): Springs’ transition into a starter has gone extremely well, as the lefty now looks like one of the best rotation arms that Tampa Bay has. In his most recent start, Springs gave up only two runs over five innings and struck out seven batters. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his last four outings, and he has some of the best stuff in baseball. Look for him to continue to miss bats at a high rate, while also giving the Rays five or so innings of productive pitching.

Weather

Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.

Key injuries

Cardinals: Corey Dickerson OF (Out), Jordan Hicks P (Out), Alex Reyes P (Out), Dylan Carlson OF (Out), Steven Matz P (Out), Tyler O’Neill OF (Out), Drew VerHagen P (Out), Jack Flaherty P (Out).
Rays: J.P Feyereisen P (Out), Wander Franco SS (Out), Brandon Lowe 2B (Out), Phoenix Sanders P (Out), Chris Mazza P (Out), Shane Baz P (Out), Luis Patino P (Out), Nick Anderson P (Out), Tyler Glasnow P (Out).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.

Betting trend to know

The Cardinals are 5-0 in their last 5 interleague games vs. a left-handed starter. Find more MLB betting trends for Cardinals vs. Rays

Cardinals vs Rays picks and predictions

Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.

Moneyline analysis

This game features an exciting matchup on the mound, but it’s one that should give the Cardinals a good shot at winning. Considering the odds on this game, that makes St. Louis the right moneyline play. 

St. Louis is third in the league in on-base plus slugging and second in MLB in weighted runs created plus when facing southpaws this season. Springs has been an excellent starter — and undoubtedly misses a lot of bats — but the numbers back up that this Cardinals team can hit lefties, and the same can’t be said about the Rays and righties. 

Tampa Bay’s advanced stats are miserable against right-handed pitching this year, and it’s just hard to ignore that in a matchup like this one. 

Keep an eye on Tommy Edman and Paul Goldschmidt here. Edman is batting .354 in 48 at-bats against lefties this year, so he’s always going to be a threat to get on and put pressure on opposing pitchers in games like these. 

Meanwhile, Goldschmidt’s numbers against southpaws are absolutely ridiculous, as he is batting .500 with three homers, 12 RBI, and an on-base plus slugging of 1.474. 

Those two can go a long way in helping St. Louis score a few runs, which should be enough with the way Hudson is pitching lately. 

Prediction: Cardinals moneyline (+140 at Caesars) 

Over/Under analysis

The Under is 23-9-1 in the last 33 interleague games that St. Louis has played on the road, and it’s also 5-0 when the Cardinals are coming off a day in which they didn’t play a game. 

On top of that, the Under is 6-1 in the last seven games that Tampa Bay has played following a loss, and it’s also 7-3 in the team’s last 10 games. 

This game has a low total of 7.5 on most sportsbooks, and it’s not hard to figure out why. Both pitchers are performing at high levels right now, and it’s hard to see that changing here. 

The Cardinals have a better chance of ultimately breaking through, as they are at their best against lefties, but it might take three or four runs to win this game. That would be ideal for Under bettors. 

For what it’s worth, the Under is also 11-1 when the Rays have played as home favorites of -125 to -175 this season.

Prediction: Under 8 (-115 at DraftKings)

Best bet

The Rays have scored fewer than four runs in six of their last 11 games, and it isn’t hard to see a scenario in which they do that again here. This game has a low total, and the Cardinals are sending Hudson to the mound. 

The righty has given up one or fewer runs in five of his last eight starts, and he has genuinely looked unhittable at times. For a Rays team that hasn’t hit righties all that hard this year, this just seems like too good of a bet to pass up. 

Even if Tampa Bay ends up winning this game, you should expect it to be a really low-scoring affair. 

Pick: Rays team total Under 4 (-110 at FanDuel)

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