Tampa Bay Rays at St. Louis Cardinals

· Major League Baseball

Tampa Bay Rays

57-56, 27-27 Away

Final
2 - 5

St. Louis Cardinals

59-56, 31-26 Home

Nolan Arenado, Alec Burleson each drive in 2 runs to help the Cardinals beat the Rays 5-2

Burleson has 26 RBI in home games since June 20, the most in the majors. He was more exciting about getting to meet his wrestling idol in St. Louis' Randy Orton, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

“I got a photo with him and a team belt,” Burleson said. "I told the other guys that I don't think I could meet anybody else and be as star struck. That was pretty cool. I changed my walk-up (music) just for tonight, for him. ... I might have to keep it.”

Erick Fedde (8-5) pitched five innings for the victory. Willson Contreras and Masyn Winn also had two hits apiece for the Cardinals.

After a rocky debut after being acquired from the Chicago White Sox, Fedde rebounded in his first start at home. He allowed a run on four hits with six strikeouts and a walk.

“I would have loved to go deeper into the game,” Fedde said. “Overall, my stuff felt better.”

Ryan Helsley pitched the ninth for his majors-leading 36th save in 39 opportunities.

Josh Lowe had two hits for the Rays and scored a run.

Tampa Bay is 1 for 21 in the last two games with runners in scoring position.

“We're not getting the big hit. We've got to find a way to get that hit,“ Rays manager Kevin Cash said. ”It's back-to-back nights where it seems we're like one big hit away from getting back in the ballgame. It's just not coming easy right now.”

Taj Bradley (6-6) was lifted after 4 2/3 innings. He gave up five runs on nine hits. He was the American League Pitcher of the Month for July when he went 3-1 with a 1.45 ERA.

“I wasn't as commanding with my pitches as I normally am,” Bradley said. “I tried to do much and it would like to a mistake.”

The Cardinals opened the scoring in the first inning when Contreras singled with one out, scoring Winn, who led off with a double.

The Rays tied it in the third on a mistake by Fedde. Alex Jackson was on third after he singled and advanced on a single by Yandy Díaz. Brandon Lowe bounced a grounder to Fedde, who ignored Jackson and tried to get a double play. Lowe beat the relay.

“It was one of those things, catcher on third and maybe he wouldn't be going home," Fedde said. “It's a mistake by me. A least it didn't lead to a big inning.”

Two, two-run doubles gave St. Louis a 5-1 lead after four innings.

In the third inning, Arenado hit a one-out bouncing double over third base, scoring Burleson and Contreras.

“I was nice to do it today,” Arenado said. “I got a little lucky. It was nice to come through for the guys there. Obviously, it starts wit the two guys before me who got on base.”

Burleson doubled home Nolan Gorman and Winn with one out in the fourth.

The Rays added a run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by José Caballero.

TRANSACTIONS

Rays: Optioned RHP Joel Kuhnel to Triple-A Durham Bulls.

TRAINERS ROOM

Rays: Activated RHP Drew Rasmussen (elbow) from the 60-day injured list.

Cardinals: LHP Steven Matz (lower back stiffness) threw Tuesday night for Triple-A Memphis. He allowed one run on three hits in 2 2/3 innings pitched, when he reached his scheduled 50 pitches. He walked two and struck out none.

Rays RHP Shane Baz (0-1, 3.60) was set to start against RHP Kyle Gibson (7-4, 4.04) on Thursday night.

How can I watch Tampa Bay Rays vs. St. Louis Cardinals?

TV Channel: Rays at Cardinals 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Cardinals: 58.1%

Rays: 41.9%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Morel struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	B. Lowe struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Díaz walked, Rortvedt to second.
	9th Inning	Rortvedt singled to left.
	9th Inning	Mead fouled out to third.
	9th Inning	Helsley relieved Kittredge

Statistics

TB		STL
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
11	Ground Balls	12
8	Strikeouts	6
2	Runs Batted In	5
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
8	Hits	9
2	Stolen Bases	0
4	Walks	3
0	Catcher Interference	0
2	Runs	5
0	Ground Into Double Play	0
1	Sacrifice Flies	0
34	At Bats	33
0	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
22	Runners Left On Base	16
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
1	Doubles	4
16	Fly Balls	15
0	Caught Stealing	0
156	Pitches	131
0	Games Started	0
2	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
1	Is Qualified In Steals	0
9	Total Bases	13
39	Plate Appearances	36
0.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
1	Extra Base Hits	4
3.6	Runs Created	4.5
.235	Batting Average	.273
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.265	Slugging Percentage	.394
.206	Secondary Average	.212
.308	On Base Percentage	.333
.572	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.727
0.7	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.8
3.6	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	5.1
20.0	Batter Rating	37.0
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
1.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
4.00	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.64
.029	Isolated Power	.121
0.50	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.50
.103	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.083
-.029	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.061
4.0	Runs Produced	10.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.3	Patience Ratio	0.5
0.3	Balls In Play Average	0.3
73.3	MLB Rating	84.3
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0