Tampa Bay Rays vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction: Expect anything in this game 1

At Tropicana Field, the first game of a Major League Baseball series will begin on Friday, pitting the St. Louis Cardinals against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Tampa Bay Rays are looking to extend their winning streak to seven games after winning six of their previous nine contests. In the American League East, the Tampa Bay Rays are two games behind the Baltimore Orioles. The Rays pitching staff currently ranks fourth in earned run average (3.79), second in walks allowed per nine innings (1.19), and seventeenth in quality starts (37). The offensive production of the Rays ranks fourth in terms of runs per game (5.18), tenth in terms of batting average (.258), and fourth in terms of home runs (170). While Wander Franco leads the Tampa Bay Rays in hits and runs batted in with 119 and 54, respectively, Yandy Diaz and Randy Arozarena have combined for 219 hits and 122 RBI between them. Zack Littell is going to pitch, and thus far this year he has a record of 2-2, a 4.04 earned run average (ERA), and 31 strikeouts. In his career against the St. Louis Cardinals, Littell had a record of 0-1 with an earned run average of 8.68 and 5 strikeouts. Prior to this matchup, the Tampa Bay Rays had dropped each of their previous four games in which they were the favorites at home after having played the game before. In eight of their last nine home games against National League opponents after playing the prior day, the Rays have failed to cover the run line. After three innings of play in each of their last four games as favorites against teams from the National League Central, the Tampa Bay Rays have found themselves in a position where they are behind the competition.

After losing eight of their previous 12 games, the St. Louis Cardinals are sure going to be desperate for a victory. The St. Louis Cardinals are currently 9.5 games behind in the race for the National League wild card. The Cardinals pitching rotation is currently ranked 22nd in quality starts (35), 27th in WHIP (1.44), and 23rd in earned run average (4.55). The offensive production of the St. Louis Cardinals ranks 12th in terms of runs per game (4.63), seventh in terms of batting average (.257), and sixth in terms of home runs (159). Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan have combined for 212 hits and 115 RBI for the Rockies, while Paul Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals with 120 hits and 59 RBI individually. The next batter is Matthew Liberatore, who has a record of 1-4 with a 6.93 earned run average and 23 strikeouts so far this season. This will be the first time that Liberatore has faced the Tampa Bay Rays in his professional career. The St. Louis Cardinals are coming into this match having won each of their previous six Friday games despite being the underdog on the road. Additionally, in each of their previous 10 games as road underdogs following a win, the Cardinals have covered the run line every single time.

Matthew Liberatore is not a guy I am keen to back due to the fact that he has a 6.93 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. However, the St. Louis Cardinals have been having trouble stringing together wins recently. Zack Littell is a significantly more reliable option with his 4.04 ERA and 1.35 WHIP, and he just finished a game against the Tigers in which he pitched six innings without allowing a run. Even though Liberatore only has 37.2 innings of experience under his belt, he has, to put it mildly, not been very good. One may make the case that the Tampa Bay Rays belong in the minus-200 range of odds. Because of this, the odds-on favorites playing at home are anticipated to perform at a high level and come away with the win in the first game.