The St. Louis Cardinals are going for their fourth win in a row when they play host to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium. The game will start at 1:15 p.m. ET and the matchup will be televised on both ATPT and FSMW.
Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Louis Cardinals Odds
Both teams have identical -105 moneyline odds and oddsmakers have the Over/Under for this game at 8.5 runs. The odds for betting on the game’s total stand at +105 for the over and -125 for the under. Bettors can also wager on the game’s spread with the runline odds sitting at Pirates -1.5 runs (+140) and Cardinals +1.5 runs (-160).
The Cardinals are 81-64 straight up (SU) and 76-68 against the spread (ATS). The team’s gained 4.3 units for bettors taking the moneyline and 7.5 units (ATS). The Pirates have gone 71-73 SU this year and are 70-73 ATS. Overall, the team’s lost 1.1 units for moneyline bettors and 9.6 units ATS.
Cardinals games have a 66-72-6 over/under record in 2018. Pittsburgh has also been a decent under bet with a total record of 63-70-10.
The right-handed Jameson Taillon is the probable starter for the visiting Pirates. Taillon is 12-9 with a 3.40 ERA and 152 strikeouts. He’s 1-0 with 12 strikeouts and a 1.88 ERA against St. Louis this year (two starts).
The Cardinals are putting the ball in the hands of Daniel Poncedeleon (0-1, 2.67 ERA), who has 23 strikeouts and 12 walks this season as well as a 1.15 WHIP. Poncedeleon has yet to face the Pirates this year and did not record any MLB pitching stats last season.
St. Louis’ pitching staff has yielded 4.1 runs per game overall in 2018 as a unit. Its starters have a 3.36 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings. The bullpen has a 4.33 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 8.1 K/9. In 69 divisional games, Cardinals starters have an ERA of 3.43 and the bullpen’s ERA is 4.44.
St. Louis’ hitters are putting up 4.7 runs per outing, including 4.7 per game against divisional foes and 6.0 per game over their last five. The team’s hit .233/.295/.384 over its last five games and is 3-2 SU during that stretch.
The Cardinals’ offense has been led by Jose Martinez, who is slashing .305/.364/.455 with 16 home runs, 79 RBIs and 56 runs scored.
In the visiting dugout, Pittsburgh’s pitchers have allowed 4.4 runs per game and its starters own a 4.05 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 7.47 K/9. The bullpen has an ERA of 4.09, along with a K-per-9 of 9.68.
Pirates hitters have slashed .254/.320/.408 on their way to 4.3 runs scored per game this season, including 4.6 runs per game against divisional foes and 5.0 per game over the team’s last five contests (3-2 SU).
Pittsburgh’s offense has been paced by Starling Marte. Marte is hitting .275/.320/.456 with 19 home runs, 66 RBIs, 72 runs and 31 stolen bases.
The Cardinals just took the previous game in the series by a final tally of 11 runs to five.
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals MLB Prediction
Predictions: SU Winner – Cardinals, ATS Winner – Cardinals, O/U – OVER
Betting Trends
- The under has hit in four of St. Louis’ last seven games.
- The Pirates have hit 10 home runs in their last 10 games, including six over their last five.
- St. Louis has recorded 21.1 Runs + Hits + Errors per game over its last 10 contests and 20.8 over its last five.
