(Sports Network) - The Tampa Bay Rays have been awful tough to beat at home as of late. The young and up-and-coming club will attempt to find that same success when it hits the road for a three-game interleague series with the St. Louis Cardinals that begins tonight at Busch Stadium.

Tampa Bay has surged to the top of the competitive American League East after going 6-1 on a seven-game homestand that concluded with Thursday's 5-2 victory over the New York Yankees. The Rays won three of their four matchups with the Yanks in the series, which came on the heels of a three-game sweep of the 2007 AL West champion Angels.

Scott Kazmir (2-1) threw six shutout innings in Thursday's win, with the talented young left-hander yielding just three hits and three walks. Troy Percival sealed the victory and picked up his 10th save of the year with a perfect ninth.

Akinori Iwamura gave the Rays a quick 1-0 lead with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first inning, while Shawn Riggans added a two-run shot later in the night. Both players finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored for Tampa Bay, which currently owns the best record in the AL at 24-17.

While the Rays have been surging, the Cardinals come into this series in a rut. St. Louis has lost seven of its last nine contests and began its six-game homestand by dropping two of three tilts to fellow NL Central member Pittsburgh.

In Thursday's series finale, the Pirates erupted for seven runs over the final two innings to rally for an 11-5 decision. The biggest blow came from Jason Bay, who smacked a tie-breaking three-run homer off Jason Isringhausen in the top of the eighth.

Isringhausen (1-5) came on in the eighth with St. Louis clinging to a 5-4 lead and promptly surrendered four runs (3 earned) while recording just a single out.

Joel Pineiro worked the first five innings for the Cardinals and allowed four runs on six hits.

Chris Duncan went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored for St. Louis. Troy Glaus ended 3-for-4 and drove in one run, while Yadier Molina went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two walks.

The Cardinals will attempt to get back on track tonight behind Braden Looper, who has compiled a strong 5-2 record on the season but is coming off a loss in his last start.

Against Milwaukee on Sunday, Looper was touched for four runs on seven hits over six innings in a 5-3 setback to the Brewers at Miller Park.

The converted reliever has been very good at home this year, having posted a 3-1 record and a 3.67 earned run average in five outings. Looper has never faced Tampa Bay as a starter, but is 1-0 with one save and a 3.14 ERA over 12 previous relief appearances against the Rays.

Tampa Bay counters with the surprising Andy Sonnanstine, who brings an impressive 5-1 mark into tonight's matchup and had won four consecutive starts before receiving a no decision against the Angels on Sunday.

Sonnanstine has been hit rather hard as of late, however. Over his last two starts, the right-hander has permitted nine runs and 18 hits over 11 innings of work. He will be opposing St. Louis for the first time tonight.

These teams have met only once previously, with the Cardinals sweeping a three-game series against Tampa at Tropicana Field from June 17-19, 2005.

The Cardinals are 84-76 all-time in interleague play, while the Rays are just 74-104 against the National League.