In this article we will formulate a Pittsburgh Pirates vs LA Dodgers prediction for this MLB game on Wednesday, June 5th at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Let’s take a look at the prediction for game two in the series.
Pirates Trying to Snap Trend
The Pittsburgh Pirates are 28-32 this season and they have alternated wins and losses over their last six games. Pittsburgh won the first game in this series by a score of 1-0 on Tuesday night. If the trend continues, Pittsburgh is due for a loss in this game. Prior to this series, the Pirates lost two out of three against the Blue Jays, split a two game series with the Tigers, and won two out of three against the Braves. Pittsburgh is 5-6 in their last 11 games and they are fourth in the NL Central behind Milwaukee, Chicago, and St. Louis.
The Pittsburgh pitching staff has a 3.85 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, and a .238 opponent batting average. The Pirates offense has scored 240 runs with a .228 batting average and a .300 on base percentage. Bryan Reynolds is batting .257 with eight home runs and 32 RBI’s for the Pirates this season. Pittsburgh is 12th in the MLB in team ERA and they have allowed at least five runs in eight of their last twelve games.
Dodgers Continue to Look for More Offense
The Los Angeles Dodgers are 38-24 this year and they have won five of their last seven games. Los Angeles dropped game one in the series, where they were shutout for the loss. Prior to this series, the Dodgers won two out of three against the Rockies, swept the Mets in three games, and lost all three games against the Reds. Los Angeles is 5-7 in their last 12 games and they are leading the NL West over the Padres.
The Los Angeles pitching staff has a 3.19 ERA, a 1.11 WHIP, and a .216 opponent batting average. The Dodgers offense has scored 297 runs with a .255 batting average and a .333 on base percentage. Shohei Ohtani is batting .321 with 14 home runs and 38 RBI’s for the Dodgers this season. Los Angeles is seventh in runs scored this year, but they have scored three runs or fewer in seven of their last twelve games.
Starting Pitchers
The projected starting pitcher for Pittsburgh is Paul Skenes, who is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP over 22.0 innings pitched this year. Skenes has allowed a total of three earned runs in his last three outings against the Cubs, Giants, and Tigers. Skenes has also pitched six innings all three of those outings. The projected starting pitcher for Los Angeles is James Paxton, who is 5-0 with a 3.29 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP over 52.0 innings pitched this season. Paxton has allowed three earned runs or fewer in four of his last five starts, but did allow five earned runs against the Reds two starts ago.
Why the Los Angeles Dodgers will win
The Pirates have lost each of their last five games as home favorites.
The Dodgers have won each of their last four games as road underdogs against National League opponents following a loss.
The Pirates have failed to cover the run line in each of their last 10 Wednesday night games as favorites against National League opponents.
The underdogs have covered the run line in 11 of the Pirates’ last 12 games at PNC Park.
The Dodgers have led after 3 innings in six of their last nine games as road underdogs.
The Dodgers have led after 5 innings in three of their last four games as road underdogs against National League opponents.
Total Runs Facts
Eight of the Dodgers’ last nine games have gone UNDER the total runs line.
Each of the Pirates’ last five games as favorites have gone OVER the total runs line.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Pirates’ last three home games.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Dodgers’ last three night games.
Pittsburgh Pirates vs LA Dodgers Prediction
Pittsburgh was able to get the win in game one of this series and they will turn to Paul Skenes to try and make it two in a row over the Dodgers. Skenes had some issues in his MLB debut, but he has been very good in his last three starts. The Dodgers are 17-12 on the road this season and they really haven’t played very well over the last two weeks. LA is going with James Paxton, who has been pretty solid this year, but has only lasted 7.2 innings in his last two outings. I know Skenes is on the mound for the Pirates, but the Dodgers have the way better lineup and Paxton hasn’t been awful. My Pittsburgh Pirates vs LA Dodgers prediction is for the Dodgers to get the win.