St. Louis Cardinals at Tampa Bay Rays 6/9/22 - MLB Picks & Predictions

An interleague clash will take place on Thursday afternoon, when the St. Louis Cardinals and the Tampa Bay Rays square off from Tropicana Field. The Cardinals (32-25) are two games above .500 on the road and trail NL Central Division leading Milwaukee by one full game. Last night, St. Louis SP Packy Naughton (0-2) was tagged for four runs and recorded just four outs during an 11-3 road loss against Tampa Bay.

Thirty-three year old righty Miles Mikolas (4-3 3.02 ERA) has pitched extremely well for the Cardinals this season. Through 65 plus innings, Mikolas has allowed just six long balls and owns a solid 1.14 WHIP.

The Tampa Bay Rays have won 20 of their first 33 home games and are tied with Toronto for second place in the AL East Division. On Wednesday, Tampa Bay 1B Ji-Man Choi collected three hits and scored three runs to spark the offense. OF Randy Arozarena contributed three hits and drove in four runs for the Rays, who improved to 33-23 on the season.

Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash will give the nod to talented left-hander Shane McClanahan (6-2 2.10 ERA) on Thursday. The Rays have won each of McClanahan’s last five starts and he has allowed just four earned runs total over that stretch.