The Tampa Bay Rays are the biggest surprise in baseball this year, and we look for their success to continue when they visit the St. Louis Cardinals to kick off interleague play.

In all honesty, we are not thrilled with either starting pitcher here, but we feel the Tampa Bay bullpen is light years ahead of the Cardinals, and therein lies the key to this contest. The Rays have won seven out of eight games, and they qualify under our Bullpen System here. While that angle is just 32-31 so far this season, it is still +3.26 units and has yet to go into the red at any point. Remember that our Bullpen System has averaged +97 units the last three years.

Andy Sonnanstine has gone 5-1 for Tampa Bay, but it has not been pretty, as evidenced by his high 5.07 ERA. In fact, he has been downright brutal in his last two starts, allowing a total of nine runs and 18 hits in 11 innings, yet the red-hot Rays found a way to win both of those games. In all fairness, Sonnanstine did have three straight Quality Starts prior to those last two debacles, including two outings where he allowed one run or less. Should he repeat his last two efforts however, it is certainly reassuring to know that the Rays’ bullpen has a collective 3.18 ERA, ranking third in the American League and fifth in the Major Leagues.

Braden Looper of the Cardinals practically mirrors Sonnanstine in that his rather high 4.21 ERA has ballooned over his last two starts, when he allowed a total of eight earned runs and 18 baserunners in 14.1 innings. The difference though is that Looper does not expect to get much support from a bullpen that ranks 22nd with a 4.30 ERA after deposed closer Jason Isringhausen imploded again yesterday.

Finally, the Rays’ style of play ironically resembles the Cardinals during their glory days, based on speedsters getting on base and advancing either via steals and hit-and-run plays, except that Tampa Bay now does it better. If their bullpen remains as strong as it has been so far, the entire league will realize that Tampa Bay is not a fluke.
 
Free Pick: Rays -105