St. Louis Cardinals vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 08/22/25

Tampa Bay’s losing streak was extended to 4 games with Thursday’s 7-4 loss to the Cardinals in the series opener. Now, the two teams are set for a Friday night matchup at George M. Steinbrenner Field. No matter how you slice it, Miles Mikolas is having a rough year. Mikolas enters this contest with a 4.99 ERA and 1.30 WHIP through 24 starts and 122.2 innings so far in 2025. So far in August, he’s posted a 6.14 ERA through 14.2 innings and has more walks (7) than strikeouts (5). The Rays are strikeout prone, but Mikolas isn’t going to rack up a high number of strikeouts. He tends to pitch to contact knowing that he isn’t going to blow hitters away with his arsenal.

Since coming to Tampa Bay, Adrian Houser has made 3 straight road starts. He allowed 9 earned runs over his first 2 outings with his new team, but is coming off 5 shutout innings against the Giants in his last start. Still, Houser has struggled this season, and San Francisco’s lineup is among the coldest in baseball. The Cardinals should be able to give him some issues. Look to the over.

Cardinals vs Rays prediction: Over 9 (-115) available at time of publishing. Playable to -120.