The St. Louis Cardinals are ready to square off against their NL Central rival Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET and the matchup will be shown on ATPT and FSMW.
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Odds
St. Louis (-120) is favored against Pittsburgh (+110) and oddsmakers have set the Over/Under for this one at 8 runs. The odds for betting on the game’s total stand at -120 for the over and +100 for the under. Bettors can also wager on the game’s spread with the runline odds sitting at +125 for 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). Pittsburgh has covered the spread just twice in its last seven games and the under has hit in three of those seven. The Cardinals are 27-22 SU and have gone 22-26 ATS. Overall, the team’s lost 2.5 units for moneyline bettors and 5.7 units ATS. St. Louis is 3-4 ATS over its last seven games and the total has gone under in four of those seven.
Pittsburgh games have a 25-19-6 over/under record so far in 2018. Cardinals games have gone under 26 times, gone over 18 times and pushed on four occasions.
Miles Mikolas will get the start for St. Louis. 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 are sending 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 WHIP of 1.29. Taillon has yet to face the Cardinals this year, but he made four starts against them in 2017, compiling a 1-1 record with a 4.71 ERA and 25 strikeouts.
Pittsburgh’s pitching staff has yielded 4.4 runs per game overall in 2018 as a unit. The team’s starters have a 4.23 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings. The bullpen has a 3.77 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 9.8 K/9. In 18 divisional games, Pirates starters have an ERA of 3.32 and the bullpen’s ERA is 4.08.
The Pittsburgh offense is putting up 4.8 runs per contest, including 5.7 per game against divisional foes and 4.0 per game over its last five. The team’s hit .253/.317/.429 over its last five games and is 2-3 SU during that span.
The Pirates’ hitters have been led by outfielders Corey Dickerson and Starling Marte. Dickerson is slashing .312/.350/.495 with five home runs, 31 RBIs and 23 runs scored, and Marte’s line sits at .313/.369/.521 with seven homers, 20 RBIs, 31 runs and 10 stolen bases.
Compared to his total season slash line of .275/.333/.379, Marte appeared to enjoy facing righty pitching at home last season, slashing .374/.447/.565 across 132 plate appearances.
In the other dugout, St. Louis’ pitchers have allowed 3.8 runs per game and its starting pitchers 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.
The Cardinals offense has slashed .240/.319/.391 on its way to 4.3 runs scored per game in 2018, including 4.8 runs per game against divisional foes and 2.8 per game over the team’s last five contests (2-3 SU).
First baseman Jose Martinez and outfielder Marcell Ozuna have led St. Louis’ offense. Martinez is hitting .316/.386/.475 with five home runs, 31 RBIs and 19 runs scored, while Ozuna (.265/.305/.346) is up to three homers, 22 RBIs and 18 runs scored.
Maintaining a slash line of .257/.333/.371 across 117 such plate appearances, Martinez didn’t seem to enjoy hitting against righty pitching on the road last year (compared to his total season slash line of .309/.379/.518).
The Cardinals have lost 5.9 units and are 14-22 ATS when facing a right-handed starting pitcher this season. The over has hit in 13 of those games, as opposed to 19 that’ve hit the under against righty starters. On the other hand, the Pirates have netted 2.5 units and are 20-20 ATS when facing a righty starter. The over has hit in 17 of those games, compared to 17 that went under.
St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction
Predictions: SU Winner – Pirates, ATS Winner – Pirates, O/U – OVER
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Notes
Betting Notes
Pittsburgh has posted 20.7 Runs + Hits + Errors per game over its last 10 contests and 22.4 over its last five.
The Cardinals have hit 10 home runs in their last 10 games. The Pirates have hit eight over their last 10.
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