Ryne Stanek was charged with a blown save Saturday after giving up hits to two of the three batters he faced in the ninth versus the Rays.

After Riley O’Brien and Jojo Romero worked scoreless seventh and eighth innings, respectively, Stanek was expected to get the ninth. However, the Cardinals expanded their lead from two runs to four in the bottom of the eighth, causing the team to sit him down and get up Svanson. Svanson went on to allow a single, a walk and another single while getting two outs. Stanek took over then and gave up hits to Carson Williams and Nick Fortes to tie the game before retiring Ben Williamson to finish the inning. For the optimist, it’s good that Stanek was the Cardinals’ preferred closer for the second straight game, and the blown save was more about Svanson’s performance than Stanek’s. Still, Stanek is probably the Cardinals’ third-best reliever at best — he posted a 5.09 ERA the last two years — and it’s not like he has a history of closing that somehow should provide him with an edge here. Probably half the reason he was the first choice in the ninth is because the Cardinals hope it will get them a better prospect in return when they try to move him in July.