The Pittsburgh Pirates will play host to their NL Central rival St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park. The game will begin at 1:35 p.m. ET and the action will be shown on both ATPT and FSMW.
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Odds
St. Louis (-120) is favored against Pittsburgh (+110) and oddsmakers have the Over/Under for this one at 8 runs (+100 for the under and -120 for the over). Runline odds stand at +125 for taking the Cardinals -1.5 runs and -145 for the Pirates +1.5.
The Pirates are 28-23 SU and 24-26 ATS. The team’s gained 3.3 units for bettors taking the moneyline and 0.1 units against the spread (ATS). The Cardinals have gone 27-22 SU this year and are 22-26 ATS. Overall, the team’s lost 2.5 units for moneyline gamblers and 5.7 units ATS.
Pirates games have a 25-19-6 over/under record thus far in 2018. The Cardinals have been a decent under bet with a total record of 18-26-4.
Miles Mikolas will get the nod for the Cards. The right-handed Mikolas is 6-0 with a 2.24 ERA and 46 strikeouts. He’s 0-0 with seven strikeouts and a 2.57 ERA against Pittsburgh this year.
The Pirates will send righty Jameson Taillon (2-4, 4.56 ERA) to the mound. Taillon has 48 strikeouts and 16 walks to his name, as well as a 1.29 WHIP. Taillon has yet to face the Cardinals this year, but he made four starts against them in 2017, posting a 1-1 record with a 4.71 ERA and 25 strikeouts.
Pittsburgh’s pitchers have given up 4.4 runs per game overall in 2018 as a unit. The team’s starters have an ERA of 4.23, a WHIP of 1.24 and a strikeouts-per-nine of 7.4. The bullpen has a 3.77 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 9.8 K/9. In 18 games against NL Central foes, Pirates starters have an ERA of 3.32 and the bullpen’s ERA is 4.08.
The Pittsburgh offense has put up 4.8 runs per outing, including 5.7 per game against divisional foes and 4.0 per game over its last five. The team has a slash-line of .253/.317/.429 over its last five matchups and is 2-3 SU during that span.
Corey Dickerson has helped lead the Pirates’ offense this year with five home runs, 31 RBIs and 23 runs scored.
For the visiting squad, St. Louis’ pitching staff allowed 3.8 runs per game and its starters own a 2.95 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 8.20 K/9. The bullpen has an ERA of 4.31, along with a K-per-9 of 8.25.
Cardinals hitters have slashed .240/.319/.391 on their way to 4.3 runs scored per game this season, including 4.8 runs per game against divisional foes and 2.8 per game over the team’s last five outings (2-3 SU).
Jose Martinez has led St. Louis’ hitters and is slashing .316/.386/.475 with five home runs, 31 RBIs and 19 runs scored. He did not seem to enjoy hitting against righties on the road last season. Over 117 such plate appearances, he maintained a slash line of .257/.333/.371 (his total season line was .309/.379/.518).
The Cardinals just took the previous game in the series by a final score of four runs to one.
St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates Free Prediction
Predictions: SU Winner – Pirates, ATS Winner – Pirates, O/U – OVER
Betting Notes
- The over has cashed in only two of St. Louis’ last seven games.
- The Cardinals have hit 10 home runs in their last 10 games. The Pirates have hit eight over their last 10.
- St. Louis has recorded 24.6 runs + hits + errors per game over its last 10 games and 20.8 over its last five.
