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Corey Kluber Faces Cardinals
Corey Kluber Faces Cardinals

GameDay Preview: Veteran Corey Kluber Takes on Cardinals Wednesday Night

Veteran right-hander Corey Kluber has been very good for the Tampa Bay Rays, allowing just one run in each of his last two starts. He'll look to beat the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night. Here's our gameday preview, with lineups, pitching bios and a ton of newsy nuggets.
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Veteran Tampa Bay pitcher Corey Kluber was talking on Tuesday about how much he respects and appreciates Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, the old-timers on the St. Louis Cardinals' roster.

But when Kluber takes the mound for his start on Wednesday night, he'll miss them both. Neither future Hall of Famer is in the lineup for the 7:10 p.m. ET game.

Kluber has been very good lately for the Rays, allowing just one in each of his last two starts, both of which covered six innings. This is his 11th start, and he's really had only three shaky starts all year. 

He done his job in filling the role of the veteran in this solid Rays' rotation.

"I feel like it's been pretty consistent for the most part,'' Kluber said Tuesday in the Rays locker room. "There's a couple ones in there that I wasn't happy with sprinkled in there. Those will happen during the course of a long season, but I try not to hit the panic button or read too much into it.'' 

Rays manager Kevin Cash said the veteran has so much experience that he knows how to navigate a game.

"He's been really good with his strike-throwing,'' Cash said. "He's been feeling good, and he knows what he needs to do to be successful, how to go out and execue pitches. Hopefully that overall  lack of familiarity with Klubs will benefit him. There aren't a lot of guys in the lineup who's had a lot of reps against him.''

Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is the only player in the lineup with any official at-bats against him, and the All-Star slugger is just 1-for-6 all-time against him.

Here's how to watch Wednesday's game, with TV information and starting lineups and more.

How to watch Cardinals at Rays

  • Who: St. Louis Cardinals (32-24) at Tampa Bay Rays (32-23)
  • When: 7:10 p.m. ET, Wednesday, June 8
  • Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla.
  • TV: Bally Sports Sun
  • Stream: Fubo.tv CLICK HERE
  • Announcers: Dewayne Staats (play-by-play), Brian Anderson (color commentary) and Tricia Whitaker (reporter).
  • Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM, SiriusXM Channel 182
  • Announcers: Andy Freed and Dave Wills.
  • Latest line: The Rays are favored at minus-146 on the money line according to the Fanduel.com website opening line as of Wednesday afternoon. The Cardinals are plus-124. The over/under is 7.5.

Cardinals-Rays series history

  • Rays finally lead series: For the first time ever, the Rays actually lead the all-time series with the Cardinals following Tuesday night's 4-2 Rays win in 10 innings. The Rays hold a 9-8 lead all-time now. The Rays have dominated the series most recently, winning eight of the past 10 games. 

Projected starting pitchers

  • Cardinals left-hander Packy Naughton: It's a bullpen day for the Cardinals, with left-hander Packy Naughton getting the call first, but the guess is he'll only be out there for 50 pitches max. He's 0-1 with a 3.09 earned run average on the season, pitching 11 2/3 innings over seven appearances. This is his third start, and the first since May 30 against San Diego. Here's an interest stat: When he starts with six days rest or more, he is 0-5 with a 9.50 ERA. He's 26 years old and a Boston native. 
  • Rays right-hander Corey Kluber: Veteran Corey Kluber has been very good lately, putting together two solid starts in a row. This is his 11th start of the season and he's 2-2 with a 3.73 ERA. But in his last starts, he's allowed just one run each time out in six-inning stints, and has allowed only seven total hits. They Rays won both games against the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers.

Projected lineups

  • Cardinals lineup: Tommy Edman SS, Nolan Gorman 2B, Paul Goldschmidt 1B, Tyler O'Neill LF, Brendan Donovan 3B, Juan Yepez DH, Harrison Bader CF, Lars Nootbaar RF, Andrew Knizner Yadier C, Packy Naughton P.
  • Rays lineup: Manuel Margot RF, Harold Ramirez DH, Ji-Man Choi 1B, Yandy Diaz 3B, Randy Arozarena LF, Vidal Brujan 2B, Francisco Mejia C, Kevin Kiermaier CF, Taylor Walls SS, Corey Kluber P.

Newsy nuggets

  • No. 1 — Interleague play in 2022: The Rays are 5-1 in interleague games so far this season, winning two of three games in Chicago against the Cubs in mid-April, and sweeping a short two-games series against the Miami Marlins in late May. They're 1-0 now against the Cardinals after Taylor Walls hit a walk-off three-run homer in the ninth inning to win 4-2. They are 20-6 in interleague play since the start of last season, which is the best record in the majors.
  • No. 2 — Sleepless night: I asked Walls on Wednesday if he got much sleep last night after his big three-run homer "Not much,'' he said with a smile. Walls in back in the lineup on Wednesday night.
  • No. 3 — Baz returns: Shane Baz will make his first start of the season on Saturday in Minnesota, and Cash can't wait to see his electric 22-year-old on the mound against the Twins. "I'm excited that he's here,'' Cash said. "It's been something of a long time coming. The injury was unfortunate in the spring, but we feel good with where he's at.'' Baz made four starts in Durham. "He set the bar really high (last year). He looked the part, under control in every outing.
  • No. 4 — Magic number is 4: The Rays are 24-5 this season when scoring four runs or more, and just 8-18 when they've scored three runs or less.
  • TOM BREW COLUMN: Moving Jeffrey Springs into the rotation just might be the best move the Rays have made all year. Here's Tom Brew's column on teh standout left-hander who has adapted to his new role well. CLICK HERE
  • RAYS BEAT CARDS IN 10 (Tuesday): Tampa Bay shortstop Taylor Walls has been struggling at the plate, but it hasn't slowed his confidence or commitment to getting better. All that work paid off in the 10th inning on Tuesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals, when his three-run homer off the right-field foul pole gave the Rays a 4-2 win at Tropicana Field. CLICK HERE
  • JUST FOR STARTERS: Jeffrey Springs turned in another impressive outing for Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, throwing six scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals at Tropicana Field. Here's our "Just For Starters'' breakdown on his night, with all the numbers and a cumulative look at the Rays rotation for the year. CLICK HERE
  • PUJOLS UP TO NO. 9: St. Louis Cardinals legend Albert Pujols singled in the fourth inning on Tuesday night against Tampa Bay, moving into ninth place on baseball's all-time hits list with 3,320. He broke a tie with Paul Molitor. CLICK HERE
  • KIERMAIER BATTING CLEANUP: It's only happened once before in Kevin Kiermaier's long career with the Tampa Bay Rays that he's hit cleanup, but he's doing it Tuesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals. "I did a couple extra biceps curls and bench-press reps to kind of look the part of a clean-up hitter,'' he said with a laugh pregame. CLICK HERE
  • RAYS 2022 SCHEDULE: Here is the Rays' complete schedule for 2022, with results and stats thus far, and gametimes and locations for the rest of the year. CLICK HERE
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