St. Louis Cardinals vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction – 8/22/2025
The St. Louis Cardinals won the first game of their three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. They will meet again at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa on Friday night with the Cardinals looking to get to the .500 mark for the season. Before this interleague matchup from Florida, continue reading to get my Rays vs Cardinals prediction.
Our Cardinals vs Rays Pick
- Pick: Rays Moneyline
- Confidence: 3/5
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Game Snapshot
- Matchup: St. Louis Cardinals at Tampa Bay Rays
- Date & Time: Friday, August 22, 2025
- Starting Pitchers: Adrian Houser (TB) vs Miles Mikolas (STL)
- Stadium: George M. Steinbrenner Field, Tampa, FL
- Broadcast: FDSSUN / FDSMW
Key Storylines
Pitching matchup
Adrian Houser enters with solid form for the Rays. He has a winning record and a 2.67 ERA for the year. He comes off a recent outing where he blanked San Francisco across five innings. Miles Mikolas has struggled with a near-5.00 ERA for the Cardinals. The Cardinals’ pitching staff has allowed 10 homers over the last 10 games and they could be vulnerable against the power hitters of the Rays.
Key Players
- Willson Contreras hit a home run for the Cardinals in their win over Tampa last night. He will try to contribute in a big way again in this contest.
- Yandy Diaz is dealing with some injury concerns but he hit a home run for the Rays last night and will try to do it again in this game.
Recent team streaks
- The Cardinals have won three of their last four games coming into this contest.
- Tampa has dropped four games in a row going into Friday’s MLB action.
Best Player Props
| Player | Prop |
|---|---|
| Willson Contreras (STL) | Under 1.5 Total Bases |
| Miles Mikolas (STL) | Under 4.5 Strikeouts |
| Junior Caminero (TB) | Over 1.5 Total Bases |
Betting Trends & H2H
- The Cardinals won the first game of the season series between these teams on Thursday night.
- The first game of this series saw 11 total runs scored and went over the total.
- The Rays are a game below .500 at home at 32-33 this season.
- St. Louis is 29-35 on the road for the year.
Cardinals vs Rays Model Projection
Score Projection: Rays 5 – Cardinals 3
Win Probability: Rays 57%, Cardinals 43%
Final Thoughts
The Rays have the advantage in this game from a starting pitching perspective. Houser has been good both with the Rays and the White Sox this season and he should outperform the struggling Miles Mikolas in this matchup. I’ll take the Rays to win this game at home as they should deny the Cardinals the ability to get back to the .500 mark for the year.
