Cardinals Go for Sweep Against Rays

The St. Louis Cardinals are feeling good after last night's victory at Busch Stadium. The team defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 on the back of Erick Fedde , the newly acquired pitcher who made his Busch Stadium debut wearing the Birds on the Bat. They will look to finish the homestand on a good note with a series sweep on Thursday.

Thursday, August 8th: Kyle Gibson vs. Shane Baz

The Cardinals will hand the ball to veteran Kyle Gibson (7-4, 4.04 ERA) and hope that he can mimic what the other two pitchers in the St. Louis rotation have shown in this series. Gibson will be looking to start the game off strong as he struggled early in his last start against the Chicago Cubs.

The veteran pitcher gave up four runs in the first two innings after a pair of extra base hits. He allowed an opening inning home run to Michael Busch and a triple to the speedy Pete Crow-Armstrong in the second inning to push the Cardinals behind by three quickly. However, Gibson persevered and settled in after the second. He went seven full innings for the Cardinals and recorded seven strikeouts with only one walk in the outing.

The Rays will go with Shane Baz (0-1, 3.60 ERA) on the mound for the series finale in just his sixth start of the season. Baz dealt with injuries and have bounced back and forth between Tampa and Triple-A Durham. He was called back up to the Majors on July 5th and has remained with the team. He is coming off a no decision against the Houston Astros after allowing two runs on six hits across 5.1 innings of work. Baz recorded five strikeouts and one walk in the start.

Today's Lineups

St. Louis Cardinals
1.) SS Masyn Winn
2.) DH Alec Burleson
3.) C Willson Contreras
4.) 3B Nolan Arenado
5.) LF Brendan Donovan
6.) 1B Paul Goldschmidt
7.) RF Lars Nootbaar
8.) 2B Nolan Gorman
9.) CF Victor Scott II

SP Kyle Gibson

Tampa Bay Rays
1.) 1B Yandy Diaz
2.) 2B Brandon Lowe
3.) DH Christopher Morel
4.) LF Josh Lowe
5.) RF Dylan Carlson
6.) C Ben Rortvedt
7.) CF Jonny DeLuca
8.) SS Taylor Walls
9.) 3B Curtis Mead

SP Shane Baz

How to Watch

The first pitch for Thursday's contest is scheduled for 7:15 PM EST. The game will be available on Bally Sports Midwest and Bally Sports Sun. Cardinals fans can listen to the game on KMOX 1120 AM, 98.7 FM, and WIJR AM 880 (En Espanol).