GameDay Preview: Kevin Kiermaier Batting Cleanup in Series Opener vs. Cardinals

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. Here's our preview, with lineups, rivalry history and a ton of news and nuggets.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash didn't want to call it a shake-up, but it was certainly a head-turner. For only the second time in his nine-year career, Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier is batting clean-up on Tuesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals. 

"I gave the leadoff spot everything I could there, and now I'm excited to have a little change of scenery and bat cleanup,'' Kiermaier said at his locker on Tuesday afternoon before the game. "I did a couple extra biceps curls and bench-press reps to kind of look the part of a clean-up hitter.

"I've hit everywhere in the order. Hopefully we'll get guys on and I'll do some clean-up things and drive them in. I'm going to do my best, and I'm sure Cash will probably mention before the game, 'don't make me look like an idiot.' ''

Kiermaier, who has six home runs this season, tied for the team lead with Randy Arozarena, has batted cleanup once before, on July 18, 2019 in New York against the Yankees in the first game of a doubleheader. 

How did he do? He was 1-for-4 with a ninth-inning double off of David Hale in a 6-2 loss.

Cash said the move is more about just getting a different look out there, since the Rays have been sluggish at the plate for a couple of weeks now. They're coming off a home series against the Chicago White Sox where they lost the series after dropping games on Saturday or Sunday.

"Just trying to find that blend to the lineup that slots guys in spots where they're coming up at the right time,'' Cash said. "We've certainly talked about the issues offensively. I don't like to say it's a shakeup, but we're just looking for different slots and if it will allow us to get a little more productive from top to bottom.

Kiermaier was red-hot a few weeks ago, getting 13 hits in a five-game stretch from May 17 to May 24, but he's cooled off considerably since then. hitting just 3-for-36, an .091 average. 

"I figured I'd be moved out of the lead-off spot sooner or later, because I haven't been very good in the last week and a half. But I like hitting with runners in scoring in scoring position. I'll probably hit a lot more singles than most clean-up hitters in any lineup in the big leagues tonight, but it's OK. We work in mysterious ways, we win doing very mysterious things, so we'll see if it works out.''

The other cleanup hitter Tuesday night — St. Louis Cardinals legend Albert Pujols —has lived in that spot in the order for much of his 22-year career.  This is his final season, and he's back with the Cardinals to close out a brilliant career. This is his last trip to St. Petersburg.

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

How to watch Cardinals at Rays

• Who: St. Louis Cardinals (32-23) at Tampa Bay Rays (31-23)
• When: 7:10 p.m. ET, Tuesday, June 7
• 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 180
• 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 Sunday morning. The White Sox are plus-124. The over/under is 7.5.

Cardinals-Rays series history

The Cardinals and Rays don't get together often, and it's been an even series through the years, with both teams winning eight times. The Rays have dominated the series most recently, going 7-2 in the last three series. They haven't played in St. Petersburg — the Cardinals' former spring training home from 1938 through 1997 — since 2014. The most recent series was in St. Louis in 2017, where the Rays won two of three games. 

Cardinals-Rays most recent games

• Cardinals' last game: The Cardinals beat the Cubs on Sunday night, winning 5-3 in extra innings for the second straight day. The two teams played five games in four days, with the Cardinals winning three times. They were off on Monday.
• Rays' last game: The Tampa Bay Rays fell way behind early and their five-run rally came up just short in a 6-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. They lost the season series to the White Sox 4-2, losing two of three games in both series this season. For the complete game story, CLICK HERE

Projected starting pitchers

• Cardinals right-hander Dakota Hudson: Dakota Hudson is making his 11th start of the season on Tuesday night, and he's thrown well after a shaky start in his first two outings. He has a 4-2 record with a 2.96 earned run average, but that ERA — just 2.01 — is an even more impressive in his last eight starts. He's had four starts where he hasn't given up any runs at all, and he allowed just one run and four hits in seven innings in a 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres last Wednesday.
• Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs: Jeffrey Springs is 2-2 with a 1.88 earned run average, and has been very good since joining the Rays' rotation. Springs, a 29-year-old left from Belmont, N.C., made nine relief appearances before joining the rotation on May 9. He got touched for a three-run homer in that first outing, but since then has pitched 21 1/3 innings and allowed only four earned runs, for a 1.69 ERA.  

Projected lineups

• Cardinals lineup: Tommy Edman 2B, Paul Goldschmidt 1B, Nolan Arenado 3B, Albert Pujols DH, Tyler O'Neill LF, Harrison Bader CF, Yadier Molina C, Edmondo Sosa SS, Brendan Donovan RF, Dakota Hudson P.
• Rays lineup: Randy Arozarena LF, Ji-Man Choi 1B, Manuel Margot DH, Kevin Kiermaier CF, Isaac Paredes 3B, Brett Phillips RF, Francisco Mejia C, Taylor Walls SS, Vidal Brujan 2B, Jeffrey Springs P.

Newsy nuggets

• No. 1 — Interleague play in 2022: The Rays are 4-1 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. 
• No. 2 — Home sweet Home: The Rays are 18-13 at Tropicana Field, and have pitched to a 2.98 ERA in home games,  third-best in the American League. They have the longest streak in the majors in not getting swept at home, not gettting blanked since April 19-21, 2019 against Boston. 
• No. 3 — Pitching prowess: The Rays have pitched to a 3.27 ERA this season, third-best in the American League and fourth-best in the majors behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (2.81), New York Yankees (2.83) and Houston Astros (2.84.
• No. 4 — Magic number is 4: The Rays are 23-5 this season when scoring four runs or more, and just 8-18 when they've scored three runs or less.