St. Louis Cardinals (32-23, second in the NL Central) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (31-23, third in the AL East)
St. Petersburg, Florida; Tuesday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Dakota Hudson (4-2, 2.96 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 28 strikeouts); Rays: Jeffrey Springs (2-2, 1.88 ERA, .86 WHIP, 40 strikeouts)
LINE: Rays -150, Cardinals +127; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays host the St. Louis Cardinals to begin a three-game series.
Tampa Bay has a 31-23 record overall and an 18-13 record in home games. The Rays have gone 13-4 in games when they did not give up a home run.
St. Louis is 32-23 overall and 16-12 in road games. The Cardinals have the fifth-ranked team ERA in the NL at 3.79.
The matchup Tuesday is the first meeting of the season between the two clubs.
TOP PERFORMERS: Yandy Diaz has a .282 batting average to rank ninth on the Rays, and has four doubles and three home runs. Randy Arozarena is 10-for-35 with two home runs and six RBI over the past 10 games.
Paul Goldschmidt leads St. Louis with 12 home runs while slugging .608. Nolan Gorman is 9-for-25 with three home runs and nine RBI over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 5-5, .192 batting average, 3.20 ERA, outscored by one run
Cardinals: 7-3, .261 batting average, 4.11 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs
INJURIES: Rays: J.P. Feyereisen: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Wander Franco: 10-Day IL (quadricep), JT Chargois: 60-Day IL (oblique), Chris Mazza: 60-Day IL (back), Brandon Lowe: 10-Day IL (back), Shane Baz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Patino: 60-Day IL (oblique), Brendan McKay: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Pete Fairbanks: 60-Day IL (lat), Tyler Glasnow: 60-Day IL (elbow), Nick Anderson: 60-Day IL (elbow), Yonny Chirinos: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Cardinals: Corey Dickerson: 10-Day IL (calf), Jordan Hicks: 15-Day IL (forearm), Steven Matz: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Dylan Carlson: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Jack Flaherty: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tyler O'Neill: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Alex Reyes: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
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