Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cleveland Indians – 8/20/20 MLB Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The Cleveland Indians and the Pittsburgh Pirates meet Thursday in MLB action from PNC Park. 

This will be the third and final matchup of this week’s series between these two teams. The Indians won Tuesday’s opener 6-3. In the Wednesday game, Cleveland kept it going with a 6-1 victory to go up 2-0 in the series. Check back all season long for free MLB picks and MLB predictions at Sports Chat Place. 

Cleveland didn’t get going until the sixth inning on Wednesday, plating three runs in that frame. Carlos Santana and Domingo Santana had three RBIs apiece, but just two hits between them. Starter Aaron Civale was the real weapon there, tossing a complete game with one earned on five hits and six strikeouts. 

For the Thursday start, the Indians will send out Shane Bieber. Over five starts this season so far, Bieber has a 4-0 record with a 1.30 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 34.2 innings of work. On his career, Bieber sports a 30-13 record with a 3.49 ERA and 431 Ks in 363.2 innings overall. 

Over on the Pirates’ side, they tied Cleveland 5-5 on hits during the Wednesday game, but couldn’t get past Civale. Jacob Stallings led the way on a 2-for-2 night, and Steven Brault posted a nice start on 5.0 innings, two hits and three Ks. 

For Thursday’s starting role, Pittsburgh is going with Trevor Williams. This season over four starts, Williams is 1-3 with a 3.98 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 20.1 innings. Williams is 30-32 overall on his career, with a 4.21 ERA and 385 Ks in 499.2 frames. 

The Indians are 39-12 in their last 51 games versus a team with a winning percentage below .400 and 10-4 in their last 14 during game three of a series. Cleveland is 56-23 in their last 79 games as a favorite and 36-15 in their last 15 games as a road favorite. 

Meanwhile, the Pirates are 4-1 in their last five Thursday games and 29-63 in their last 92 overall. Pittsburgh is 23-53 in their last 76 games as an underdog and 5-23 in their last 28 during game three of a series. 

Pick: I’m going Indians, though I do expect this one to be close initially. Williams has managed some solid starts in August, and across his 12 innings this month he’s allowed just four runs on 10 hits with nine strikeouts. He should manage to hold things together pretty well for Pittsburgh  while he’s out there. That said, Bieber is on a torrid pace right now, and his 54 Ks are tied for the third-most strikeouts in the first five starts of a season since 1906. I like Bieber to keep it going and help power Cleveland to a win here.