Rays try to avoid series sweep against the Cardinals

Tampa Bay Rays (57-56, fourth in the AL East) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (59-56, second in the NL Central)

St. Louis; Thursday, 7:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Rays: Shane Baz (0-1, 3.60 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 24 strikeouts); Cardinals: Kyle Gibson (7-4, 4.04 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 109 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Cardinals -126, Rays +106; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Cardinals meet the Tampa Bay Rays looking to sweep their three-game series.

St. Louis has a 59-56 record overall and a 31-26 record in home games. The Cardinals are 41-9 in games when they have more hits than their opponents.

Tampa Bay has a 57-56 record overall and a 27-27 record in road games. Rays pitchers have a collective 4.02 ERA, which ranks eighth in the AL.

The matchup Thursday is the third time these teams match up this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Alec Burleson has 15 doubles and 19 home runs for the Cardinals. Masyn Winn is 12-for-42 with two doubles and three home runs over the last 10 games.

Christopher Morel leads the Rays with 20 home runs while slugging .373. Brandon Lowe is 12-for-38 with four doubles, a home run and eight RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 5-5, .246 batting average, 3.92 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs

Rays: 5-5, .226 batting average, 2.35 ERA, outscored opponents by seven runs

INJURIES: Cardinals: Mike Siani: 10-Day IL (oblique), Lance Lynn: 15-Day IL (knee), Steven Matz: 60-Day IL (back), Keynan Middleton: 60-Day IL (forearm), Riley O'Brien: 60-Day IL (forearm), Drew Rom: 60-Day IL (biceps)

Rays: Richard Palacios: 10-Day IL (knee), Ryan Pepiot: 15-Day IL (knee), Richard Lovelady: 15-Day IL (forearm), Jacob Waguespack: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Shane McClanahan: 60-Day IL (forearm)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.