The St. Louis Cardinals will look to surprise ace Kyle Lohse to win their second consecutive series in the rubber match of their interleague contest with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays will roll out Jeremy Hellickson, the last and best of their young, cost-controlled starters, who is 7-7 with a 3.18 ERA on the year. Lohse's newfound control has silenced critics of the massive four-year contract he signed after 2008—at least so far.
Lance Berkman has anchored the Cardinals' offense in their recent run against the AL East, homering Saturday in Kyle McClellan's losing effort, and with Matt Holliday still battling illness from the designated hitter position it will be on Berkman again to make up for the offense the Cardinals lost when Albert Pujols hit the disabled list.
For Hellickson, whose dominant finish to his minor league career and 4-0 start in the big leagues has given him a higher profile than any young Ray since David Price, the game will be a chance to snap a four-game losing streak which has seen him put up an ERA of 4.74.
The game starts at 12:40.