It’s Thursday, August 21 and the Cardinals (63-65) are in Tampa to take on the Rays (61-66). Sonny Gray is slated to take the mound for St. Louis against Joe Boyle for Tampa Bay.
The Cardinals lost its past outing 6-2 to the Marlins, but won the series to snap a five-game losing streak ahead of this matchup. The Rays are coming off being swept by the Yankees in two-games and a loss to the Giants for three consecutive losses.
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Let’s dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two. We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Cardinals at Rays
Date: Thursday, August 21, 2025
Site: George M. Steinbrenner Field
Network/Streaming: FDSNMW, FDSNSUN
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
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Odds for the Cardinals at the Rays
The latest odds as of Thursday:
Moneyline: Cardinals (-121), Rays (+101)
Probable starting pitchers for Cardinals at Rays
Pitching matchup for August 21, 2025: Sonny Gray vs. Joe Boyle
Cardinals: Sonny Gray, (11-6, 4.30 ERA)
Last outing: 10.80 ERA, 6 Earned Runs Allowed, 9 Hits Allowed, 2 Walks, and 7 Strikeouts
Rays: Joe Boyle, (1-2, 4.68 ERA)
Last outing: 18.00 ERA, 4 Earned Runs Allowed, 4 Hits Allowed, 2 Walks, and 3 Strikeouts
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Cardinals and the RaysRotoworld Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
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Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Thursday’s game between the Cardinals and the Rays:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Tampa Bay Rays at +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the over on the Game Total of 8.0.
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC.
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Cardinals at Rays
Tampa Bay is 0-3 in the last 3 games
Tampa Bay is 3-3 in the last 6 games
St. Louis is 2-6 over the past 9 games
St. Louis is 4-5 in the past 9 road games
At home this season the Rays have won 17 of 32 games following a defeat
The Rays’ last 3 games have gone over the Total
It has been 3 games since the Rays last covered the Run Line
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
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Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
Trysta Krick (@Trysta_Krick)