St. Louis and Tampa Bay continue their three game series in the June 8th Cardinals at Rays betting matchup. Tuesday’s opener was a low scoring affair, 1-1 after the 9th inning, until Taylor Walls hit a 3-run shot in the bottom of the 10th for his first career walk-off HR.
Tampa Bay was able to salvage the -143 moneyline on Tuesday, and is up to -149 for game two of the series. Oddsmakers are expecting another pitching-dominated matchup in this spot with an O/U of just 7.5.
Good Spot for St. Louis +130?
The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 10th on Tuesday night but Drew VerHagen was unable to get out of things, giving up a 2-out, 2-strike game winner to Walls. St. Louis has done a good job of avoiding losing streaks lately, going 4-0 in their last 4 following a loss.
Paul Goldschmidt had a double and a walk in game one to extend his on-base streak to 43 games. Tyler O’Neill, Harrison Bader, and Yadier Molina added multi-hit nights but the Cardinals still managed just 2 runs after averaging 6.4 runs/game over a 5-game set with the Cubs over the weekend. O’Neill, Bader, and Corey Dickerson are all hitting above .400 over the past week.
Packy Naughton (0-1, 3.09 ERA) will make his third start of the season in the June 8th Cardinals at Rays betting matchup. Naughton has a max pitch count of 57 on the year, but that was also coming up on a month ago. The left-hander threw 40 pitches and couldn’t get out of the 3rd inning in his last start, which ended up being a 6-3 win over San Diego.
Rays Back on Track
Tampa Bay lost two of three at home to Chicago over the weekend, but hope that they are back in the swing of things following the season opening win over the Cardinals. The Rays are now an impressive 24-5 in their last 29 interleague home games, as the Trop can be a tough place to play if you’re not used to it.
The Rays picked up the win on Tuesday despite having just 3 hits. Walls did the damage in the 10th, but Tampa Bay is still hoping for a much better outing against Naughton, who they have never faced. Yandy Diaz was 0-1 as a pinch hitter in game one, but has been hot in hitting .545 over the past week.
Jeffrey Springs threw 6.0 scoreless innings for Tampa Bay on Tuesday and Corey Kluber (2-2, 3.73 ERA) will try to emulate that. Kluber has allowed 1 ER in each of his last two starts and has a streak of four straight games giving up 2 ER or less. The right-hander has a 2.60 ERA in five home starts this year compared to 5.09 in five away games.
Free June 8th Cardinals at Rays Betting Pick
St. Louis dropped the opener but has been great at bouncing back after losses with four straight wins following a defeat. That being said, the pitching matchup seems to favor Tampa Bay in this spot, with the Cardinals likely having to turn to the bullpen in the 3rd or 4th inning with Naughton on the hill.
Free Pick: Rays -149
