The Cleveland Guardians are visiting the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, April 19th at the PNC Park in the second game of the series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Guardians vs Pirates Prediction. We will examine:
The Pittsburgh Pirates recent form and player performance
The Cleveland Guardians recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Pittsburgh Pirates
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Cleveland Guardians
Recent betting trends in games played between the Guardians vs Pirates
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for Guardians vs Pirates game
Pittsburgh Pirates Preview
The Pittsburgh Pirates have an 8-13 record this season and are sitting on the last place of the NL Central. The Pirates have a 6-5 home record and are 9-11 in over/under. They are coming off a 7-10 home defeat by the Cleveland Guardians, ending their previous two-game winning streak. Under is 4-1 in their last 5 games, and are playing the Angels and the Dodgers next. The Pirates have a .202 batting average this season, .288 OBP and .319 slugging percentage. Pittsburgh’s pitching staff has a 4.11 ERA and 1.24 WHIP. Isiah Kiner-Falefa leads the Pirates with 18 hits, and he is also the team’s best hitter with a .269 batting average. Oneil Cruz leads the team with 11 RBI and 5 home runs.
Paul Skenes (R) will take the mound for the Pirates, and he has a 2-1 record, 2.96 ERA and 0.74 WHIP. He bounced back after his worst performance of the season with just one earned run in 6 innings of work against the Nationals.
Cleveland Guardians Preview
The Cleveland Guardians have a 10-9 record this season and are sitting on the second place of the AL Central. The Guardians have a 5-8 road record and are 10-7 in over/under They are coming off a 10-7 road victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, ending their previous two-game losing streak. Over is 5-1-1 in their last 6 games, and are playing the Yankees and the Red Sox next. The Guardians have a .237 batting average this season, .311 OBP and .393 Slugging percentage. Cleveland’s pitching staff has a 4.23 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. Steven Kwan leads the Guardians with 24 hits and a team-high .320 batting average. Kyle Manzardo adds a team-high 12 RBI.
Ben Lively (R) will take the mound for the Guardians, and he has a 0-2 record, 4.87 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. He has 4+ earned runs in two of his last three starts, and he was torched in his only start against the Pirates last season with 6 earned runs in 4.1 innings of work.
Why the Pittsburgh Pirates will win
- The Guardians have lost each of their last six road games following a win.
- The Pirates have won each of their last four games at PNC Park following a loss.
- The Guardians have failed to cover the run line in each of their last six games as underdogs after playing the previous day.
- The favorites have covered the run line in seven of the Guardians’ last eight games.
- The Guardians have lost the first inning in each of their last three road games against National League opponents that held a losing record.
- The Guardians have trailed after 3 innings in three of their last four games as road underdogs.
- The Pirates have led after 5 innings in nine of their last 10 games as favorites against AL Central opponents.
Why the Cleveland Guardians will win
- The Guardians have won 10 of their last 11 games against National League opponents that held a losing record.
- The Pirates have lost three of their last four games as home favorites against AL Central opponents.
- The Pirates have failed to cover the run line in each of their last 13 games as favorites against American League opponents following a home loss.
- The Guardians have covered the run line in each of their last five day games following a road win.
- The Pirates have lost the first inning in three of their last four day games against AL Central opponents.
- The Guardians have led after 3 innings in seven of their last eight day games against opponents that held a losing record.
- The Guardians have led after 5 innings in each of their last eight road games against NL Central opponents that held a losing record.
Total Runs Facts
- Eight of the Guardians’ last nine games as underdogs against NL Central opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Each of the Pirates’ last four games against American League opponents have gone OVER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Pirates’ last six day games against AL Central opponents.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Guardians’ last five day games at PNC Park.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Pirates rank 29th in the league for batting average this season (.202).
- The Pirates rank 2nd in the league for home runs allowed this season (12).
- The Guardians rank 26th in the league for doubles this season (23).
- The Guardians rank T26th in the league for steals this season (9).
Guardians vs Pirates Prediction
The Guardians are 6-2 in their last 8 overall meetings against the Pirates, and won their only series in Cleveland last season by 2-1 wins. Over is 7-3-1 in their last 11 meetings.
In this Guardians vs Pirates Prediction, the Pirates are coming as -170 home favorites. The Pirates are rightfully favored with Skenes on the mound, but they did not look good in the series opener yesterday, as they allowed 10 runs off a Guardians team that had 11 in total in their previous four games combined. But the Guardians are putting Lively on the mound, who has been hit hard in three of his four starts this season, and was torched in his only start against the Pirates last season. The pitching advantage in this game is big for the Pirates, so will take the Pittsburgh Pirates by -0.5 runs in the first 5 innings.