In the first of a three-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals (86-47) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (79-53) at Busch Stadium, Carlos Martinez (13-6, 2.91 ERA) and J.A. Happ (7-7, 4.10 ERA) get the start. The game gets underway at 8:15 p.m. ET on Friday, Sep. 4 and will air on RTPT, FSMW and MLBN.
In his most recent outing, Martinez pitched 6.0 innings, giving up three runs, striking out six and walking two in a 5-3 victory over the Diamondbacks. Matt Carpenter (.260, 80 Rs, 20 HRs, 69 RBIs, 3 SBs) went 1 for 5 Wednesday. The Pirates were victorious over the Rockies 4-3 the last time Happ pitched. He went 5.2 innings, allowing one run, striking out two and walking one. Jung Ho Kang (.288, 52 Rs, 13 HRs, 50 RBIs, 5 SBs) went 1 for 2 yesterday with one RBI.
St. Louis, a -151 favorite, will look to capitalize at home against Pittsburgh. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is seven runs. The Cardinals have a winning record of 72-29 when playing as the favorite and an overall money line of +2,875. They have SU record of 8-2 and are unbeaten as the favorite (6-0) over their last 10 games. St. Louis has averaged 5.8 runs per game over the last 10 games, higher than its season average of 4.1. As for the pitching staff, the Cardinals lead the NL in ERA with a 2.66 team average. The have been extremely effective at striking opposing batters out, averaging 8.1 strikeouts per game.
On the other side, the Pirates have a record of 16-21 when they are the underdog and are +1,491 overall with the money line. Against teams in their division, they are 21-32 SU and have played poorly as the underdog with a 5-14 record. They have the second-lowest road ERA in the NL at 3.60.
The Cardinals have mostly come out on top against the Pirates in their previous 13 games this season, earning a 7-6 record. The Cardinals will take on a left-hander (Happ) in this game and have a 19-15 record against left-handed starting pitchers this season. The right-handed Martinez will take the mound against the Pirates, who have a 64-41 record against righty starters this season.
Predictions: SU Winner – StL, O/U – Over
Notes
St. Louis is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of St. Louis’s last 6 games when playing Pittsburgh.
St. Louis is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing at home against Pittsburgh.
The Cardinals sit at 32-18 against the division, while the Pirates are struggling at 21-32.
The Cardinals are coming into this game after allowing two walks during their last outing. The Pirates have a 31-32 record when opponents give up that many walks or fewer.
When they are outhit, the Pirates are 18-41. The Cardinals have a 22-31 record when opponents outhit them.
St. Louis and Pittsburgh both rank near the bottom of the league in home runs. St. Louis sits at 22nd with 112 home runs this season and Pittsburgh ranks 21st with 114.
St. Louis and Pittsburgh both rank in the top five of the league in hits. St. Louis sits at fifth with 8.74 hits per game and Pittsburgh ranks fourth with 9.01.
Ranking 16th, Pittsburgh is in the bottom half of the league for its on-base plus slugging percentage (.720). St. Louis ranks in the top half at 14th with an OPS of .721.
The Pirates are 33-32 when they allow at least one home run. The Cardinals perform similarly when they allow one or more homers with a 35-32 record.
