Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays At Tropicana Field
The ’over’ is 6-1-1 in Jeff Niemann’s last eight starts vs. winning clubs.
Interleague play rolls on as the St. Louis Cardinals are in Tampa Bay to take on the Rays. The middle game of their series will begin at 4:10 p.m. (PT).
Tampa Bay actually sports a better record than St. Louis, yet they find themselves in third place in their division while the Cards are at the top of theirs. That is life in the AL East dealing with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
Kyle McClellan (6-4, 4.02 ERA) will be on the mound for the Cardinals at Tropicana Field. He has had an up-and-down year which began with him going 3-0 in his first four starts. In his last four outings, the team has not picked up a victory.
One of those does, however, was a game in which he gave up just one run in seven innings. The bullpen proceeded to implode and the Philadelphia Phillies exploded with nine runs in the eighth inning. The Cards lost that game, 10-2.
The St. Louis offense has been pretty good all year but they have only scored two runs in McClellan’s last three starts. On the season, they are only behind the Red Sox in batting average and are in the top-5 in runs scored. Albert Pujols, of course, is still on the disabled list.
Just recently, the Rays went on a four-game win streak where five runs was the fewest they scored in that stretch. Altogether in those four matches they scored a whopping 32 runs. Even though they may not rank as high as the offense they will be facing, the Rays are certainly capable of scoring.
Starting for Tampa Bay will be Jeff Niemann (2-4, 5.58 ERA) and if those numbers look bad, take a look at his stats at home. The right-hander is 0-3 with a 6.65 ERA and a WHIP of 1.52 in Tampa Bay. While he did just come off the DL with a back injury, he was not exactly pitching lights out before that.
The injury is something to consider, even if he gave up zero runs in six innings of work in his first return to action.
Tampa Bay trends toward the ‘under,’ but the ‘over’ is 6-1-1 in Niemann’s last eight starts against teams with a winning record. Meanwhile, the Cardinals are trending to the ‘over’ in 10 of their last 15 games overall and McClellan has gone above the total his last four starts against teams with a winning record.
Tropicana Field may have a thunderstorm when play begins but it should clear up as the game goes on.
The ’over’ is 6-1-1 in Jeff Niemann’s last eight starts vs. winning clubs.
Interleague play rolls on as the St. Louis Cardinals are in Tampa Bay to take on the Rays. The middle game of their series will begin at 4:10 p.m. (PT).
Tampa Bay actually sports a better record than St. Louis, yet they find themselves in third place in their division while the Cards are at the top of theirs. That is life in the AL East dealing with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
Kyle McClellan (6-4, 4.02 ERA) will be on the mound for the Cardinals at Tropicana Field. He has had an up-and-down year which began with him going 3-0 in his first four starts. In his last four outings, the team has not picked up a victory.
One of those does, however, was a game in which he gave up just one run in seven innings. The bullpen proceeded to implode and the Philadelphia Phillies exploded with nine runs in the eighth inning. The Cards lost that game, 10-2.
The St. Louis offense has been pretty good all year but they have only scored two runs in McClellan’s last three starts. On the season, they are only behind the Red Sox in batting average and are in the top-5 in runs scored. Albert Pujols, of course, is still on the disabled list.
Just recently, the Rays went on a four-game win streak where five runs was the fewest they scored in that stretch. Altogether in those four matches they scored a whopping 32 runs. Even though they may not rank as high as the offense they will be facing, the Rays are certainly capable of scoring.
Starting for Tampa Bay will be Jeff Niemann (2-4, 5.58 ERA) and if those numbers look bad, take a look at his stats at home. The right-hander is 0-3 with a 6.65 ERA and a WHIP of 1.52 in Tampa Bay. While he did just come off the DL with a back injury, he was not exactly pitching lights out before that.
The injury is something to consider, even if he gave up zero runs in six innings of work in his first return to action.
Tampa Bay trends toward the ‘under,’ but the ‘over’ is 6-1-1 in Niemann’s last eight starts against teams with a winning record. Meanwhile, the Cardinals are trending to the ‘over’ in 10 of their last 15 games overall and McClellan has gone above the total his last four starts against teams with a winning record.
Tropicana Field may have a thunderstorm when play begins but it should clear up as the game goes on.
