The St. Louis Cardinals will head east to PNC Park to play their division rival Pittsburgh Pirates. The action starts at 7:05 p.m. ET and fans can watch it on both ATPT and FSMW.
St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates Odds
Oddsmakers are listing St. Louis (+105) as the dog to Pittsburgh (-115). The total stands at 8.5 runs and bettors can wager on the over for -120 and the under for +100. Bettors can also wager on the game’s spread with the runline odds sitting at -200 for the Cardinals +1.5 runs and +170 for the Pirates -1.5.
The Pirates are 27-22 SU and 22-26 ATS. They’ve gained 3.3 units for moneyline bettors while earning 2.5 units against the spread (ATS). Pittsburgh hasn’t covered the spread in any of its last seven games and the total has gone under in four of those seven. The Cardinals have gone 26-21 SU this year and are 22-25 ATS. Overall, the team’s lost 1.5 units for moneyline bettors in this young season and 3.9 units ATS. St. Louis is 3-4 ATS over its last seven games and the total has gone under in five of those seven.
Pittsburgh games have an over/under record of 24-19-5 so far in 2018. Cardinals games have gone under 26 times, gone over 18 times and pushed on three occasions.
John Gant will get the nod for St. Louis. The right-handed Gant is 1-1 with a 4.67 ERA and 18 strikeouts. He has yet to face the Pirates this year and only made one start against them in 2017 (0-0, 2.25 ERA across four innings).
The Pirates will turn to righty Joe Musgrove (0-0, ERA), who has zero strikeouts and zero walks to his credit as well as a WHIP of . Musgrove did not record a start against the Cardinals in 2017.
As a unit, Pittsburgh’s pitchers have yielded 4.4 runs per game overall this year. Its starting pitching staff has a 4.27 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings. The bullpen has a 3.87 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 9.8 K/9. In 16 games against divisional opponents, Pirates starters have an ERA of 3.33 and the bullpen’s ERA is 4.47.
The Pittsburgh offense is putting up 4.8 runs per contest, including 5.8 per game against divisional foes and 3.6 per game over its last five. The team has hit .250/.320/.418 over its last five games and is 1-4 SU during that span.
The Pirates’ batters have been led by outfielders Corey Dickerson and Starling Marte. Dickerson is hitting .315/.354/.494 with five home runs, 30 RBIs and 23 runs scored, and Marte’s line is .308/.366/.503 with six homers, 19 RBIs, 30 runs and 10 steals.
Compared to his overall season slash line of .275/.333/.379, Marte enjoyed hitting against right-handed pitching at home in 2017, slashing .374/.447/.565 across 132 plate appearances.
In the visiting dugout, St. Louis’ pitchers have allowed 3.8 runs per game and its starting pitchers own a 2.94 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 8.17 K/9. The bullpen has an ERA of 4.19, along with a K-per-9 of 8.32.
The Cardinals offense has slashed .239/.320/.389 on its way to 4.4 runs scored per game in 2018, including 5.0 runs per game against divisional foes and 4.0 per game over the team’s last five contests (2-3 SU).
First baseman Jose Martinez and left fielder Marcell Ozuna have led St. Louis’ offense. Martinez is slashing .312/.385/.471 with five home runs, 30 RBIs and 19 runs scored, while Ozuna (.253/.295/.331) has produced three homers, 22 RBIs and 17 runs scored.
Compared to his total season slash line of .309/.379/.518, Martinez seemed to take a step back when hitting righty pitching on the road last season, putting up a slash line of .257/.333/.371 across 117 such plate appearances.
The Cardinals have lost 4.9 units and are 14-21 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 gone under in such games. On the other hand, the Pirates have netted 2.5 units and are 18-20 ATS when facing a righty starter. The over’s cashed in 16 of those games, compared to 17 that went under the total.
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction
Predictions: SU Winner – Pirates, ATS Winner – Cardinals, O/U – OVER
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Notes
Betting Notes
St. Louis has recorded 22.5 Runs + Hits + Errors per game over its last 10 contests and 21.6 over its last five.
The Cardinals have hit nine home runs in their last 10 games. The Pirates have hit eight over their last 10.
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