Pittsburgh Pirates (12-23) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (15-19)
May 5, 2025 7:45 pm EDT
The Line: St. Louis Cardinals -162 / Pittsburgh Pirates 136; Over/Under: 8.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals meet Monday in MLB action from Busch Stadium. This will be the first installment in a three-game series this week. Here’s a Cardinals vs Pirates prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Cardinals vs Pirates pick.
Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Preview
The Pirates opened up the 2025 campaign with a string of series losses, falling to the Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees in succession. Pittsburgh got a set win over the St. Louis Cardinals, then got swept by the Reds ahead of a series victory over the Nationals. Following a sweep by Cleveland, the Pirates beat the Angels in two of three and lost a seat against the Dodgers. Pittsburgh lost two of three against the Cubs last week, then fell versus the Padres 9-4 on Friday. In Saturday’s game two, Pittsburgh lost another one, this time 2-1. Starting pitcher Bailey Falter had a nice outing though, logging 7.0 innings with one earned on two hits and two walks alongside six Ks. Oneil Cruz had the lone RBI (and four walks) with a hit, totaling a 1-for-1 day.
On Sunday the Pirates gave up all four runs in the first inning along the way to a 4-0 shutout defeat. Joey Bart, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Tommy Pham and Matt Gorski each had two hits but couldn’t do much with them. Starter Andrew Heaney left after 3.2 innings, four earned, eight hits and four walks.
In the starter slot for Monday the Pirates are going with Carmen Mlodzinski. This year Mlodzinski is 1-3 with a 6.58 ERA in six starts and 26.0 innings total. Mlodzinski is 9-11 with a 3.75 ERA in 81 career games (11 starts).
St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview
Over on the Cardinals’ side, they swept the Minnesota Twins in their first series of the season, then lost sets versus the Los Angeles Angels, Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates. Series wins over the Phillies and Astros came next, then a sweep by the Mets and a set loss to the Braves. St. Louis would win two of three versus the Brewers and split a four game set versus the Reds. After a 9-3 loss to the Mets on Friday, in game two the Cards had a rainout which resulted in a doubleheader on Sunday.
On Sunday St. Louis took a 6-5 victory in game one thanks to Willson Contreras’ three hits, three RBI and a homer. In the nightcap the Cardinals eked out another win, this time 5-4.
As starter for Monday’s matchup the Cardinals are sending out Miles Mikolas. This year Mikolas is 1-2 with a 4.66 ERA in six starts over 29.0 total frames. Mikolas is 65-66 with a 4.17 ERA in 216 career games (188 starts).
Cardinals vs Pirates Prediction
I’ll lean toward the Cardinals. St. Louis should be in pretty good shape with Mikolas on the mound—if he can maintain form, that is. Mikolas took a no-decision versus the Mets back on April 18 with 4.2 innings, two earned, five hits and two walks. In his two starts since then however, Mikolas is 1-0 with a combined 11.1 innings, nine hits, two walks and zero earned runs. He should do pretty well here if all goes according to plan. As for Mlodzinski, he gave up five earned runs on nine hits and two walks in a loss versus Cleveland on April 18. In his two outings combined since then however, Mlodzinski has five earned in 9.0 innings on 11 hits and two walks total.
St. Louis posted a good showing on Sunday to finish off the Mets in their pair of doubleheader wins, but it was close in both cases. Still, that makes four wins in the last six games for the Cards, with five or more runs scored in each of those victories. St. Louis needs to keep it going with the bats on Monday.
