The set-up: This weekend's lone IL series features a pair of playoff contenders, the 63-66 Tampa Bay Rays visiting the 64-63 St. Louis Cardinals for a three-game series beginning Friday night. This marks the first contest of a nine-game road trip for the Rays, who are three games back of the AL's second wild card spot but it's a very crowded field. Meanwhile, the Cards are five games out in the NL wild card race but also just 4 1/2 games back of the first-place Cubs in the NL Central. By comparison, the Rays are 11 games back of the Red Sox in the AL East.

The pitching matchup: Jake Odorizzi (6-7 & 4.74 ERA) takes the mound for the Rays and Michael Wacha (9-6 & 4.08 ERA) for the Cardinals. Odorizzi looks to rebound after getting pounded for seven runs on eight hits and five walks over 3 2/3 innings against Seattle on Saturday in a 7-6 loss. That marked the third time in his last four starts that he hasn't completed five innings, going 0-3 with a 6.63 ERA in that stretch (Rays are 0-4). Odorizzi, who is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA in two starts against St. Louis and has gone 6-3 with a 3.17 mark in interleague play. Wacha has also completed more than five innings just once in his last four starts (Cards are 1-3) and allowed five runs over four innings last Saturday in a 6-4 loss at Pittsburgh. Wacha had been pitching pretty well prior to his last four starts, as the Cards had gone 6-2 in his previous eight outings. Wacha permitted four runs in five innings of his only start against Tampa Bay(back in in 2014 / 0-1 & 7.20 ERA) and is 5-5 with a 3.49 ERA in 14 interleague games.

The pick: The Rays could very well fall out of wild card contention with a poor road trip and I don't much like their chances in this one. Wacha has struggled on the road with a 5.57 ERA but here in St. Louis, it's 2.99. Make St. Louis an 8* play.