St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Preview

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The Pittsburgh Pirates are prepared to battle against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park. The matchup gets underway at 4:05 p.m. ET and you can catch it on ATPT and FSMW.

St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates Odds

Pittsburgh (+100) is the home-team underdog against St. Louis (-110) and Vegas has the Over/Under for this afternoon game at 8.5 runs (-120 for the under and +100 for the over). The games runline odds stand at +135 for betting the Cardinals -1.5 runs and -155 for the Pirates +1.5.

The Pirates are 28-22 SU and 23-26 ATS. The teams gained 2.3 units for moneyline bettors while gaining 1.6 units against the spread (ATS). The Cardinals have gone 26-22 SU this year and are 22-25 ATS. In total, the teams lost 1.5 units for moneyline gamblers and 3.9 units ATS.

Pittsburgh games have an over/under record of 25-19-5 so far in 2018. St. Louis has been a decent under bet with a total record of 18-26-3.

Jack Flaherty will get the nod for the Cards. The right-handed Flaherty is 1-1 with a 2.31 ERA and 27 strikeouts. He’s 0-1 with two strikeouts and a 5.40 ERA against Pittsburgh this year.

The Pirates are sending righty Trevor Williams (5-2, 3.05 ERA) to the mound. Williams has 40 strikeouts and 20 walks to his name, as well as a 1.08 WHIP. Williams is 1-0 with two strikeouts and a 3.00 ERA across one starts against St. Louis this year.

Pittsburgh’s pitchers have yielded 4.4 runs per game overall in 2018 as a unit. The clubs starters have an ERA of 4.16, a WHIP of 1.23 and a strikeouts-per-nine of 7.5. The bullpen has a 3.88 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 9.8 K/9. In 17 games against NL Central foes, Pirates starters have an ERA of 3.10 and the bullpens ERA is 4.47.

The Pittsburgh hitters are putting up 4.9 runs per outing, including 5.9 per game against divisional foes and 4.8 per game over their last five. The team has a slash-line of .269/.343/.457 over its last five contests and is 2-3 SU during that span.

Corey Dickerson has helped lead the Pirates offense this season with five home runs, 31 RBIs and 23 runs scored.

In the other dugout, St. Louis pitchers have allowed 3.9 runs per game and its starters own a 2.99 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 8.24 K/9. The bullpen has an ERA of 4.39, along with a K/9 of 8.30.

Cardinals hitters have slashed .238/.318/.389 on their way to 4.3 runs scored per game in 2018, including 4.8 runs per game against divisional foes and 3.0 per game over the team’s last five outings (2-3 SU).

Jose Martinez has led St. Louis offense. Martinez is hitting .306/.379/.462 with five home runs, 30 RBIs and 19 runs scored. He didn’t do especially well against righty pitching on the road last season. Across 117 such plate appearances, he maintained a slash line of .257/.333/.371 (his overall season line was .309/.379/.518).

The Pirates just took the previous game in this series by a final score of eight runs to one.

St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates MLB Pick

Predictions: SU Winner – Pirates, ATS Winner – Pirates, O/U – OVER

Betting Trends

  • The under has cashed in five of St. Louis last seven games.
  • The Cardinals have hit nine home runs in their last 10 games. The Pirates have hit eight over their last 10.
  • St. Louis has recorded 22.5 runs + hits + errors per game over its last 10 contests and 20.6 over its last five.