Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction 7-3-24 Picks

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates meet Wednesday in MLB action from PNC Park. Here’s a Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals prediction. This will be the second installment in a three-game series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for the game

St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview

Over the weekend, the Cardinals took on the Cincinnati Reds in a four-game series. St. Louis managed wins in two of those outings, taking victories 1-0 Friday and 2-0 Sunday. On Tuesday versus the Pirates, the Cardinals powered out a 7-4 win. Starter Kyle Gibson put up 5.0 innings and four earned.

In the starter role for the Cardinals on Wednesday it’ll be Miles Mikolas. This year Mikolas is 6-7 with a 5.32 ERA in 17 starts. Mikolas is 60-60 with a 4.06 ERA in 195 career games (167 starts).

Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Preview

Over on the Pirates’ side, they played the Atlanta Braves in their last series. Pittsburgh lost the first two installments of that set 6-1 and 2-1, but staved off the sweep with a 4-2 victory Sunday. In Tuesday’s game the Pirates were out-hit 13-7 and gave up four runs in the fourth. Mitch Keller finished with 5.0 innings and five earned as starter.

Jared Jones will take the starter slot for the Pirates on Wednesday. Jones is 5-6 with a 3.66 ERA in 15 starts this year (his rookie season in the MLB). In 86.0 innings total Jones had 93 Ks.

Pirates vs Cardinals Injury Notes

Cardinals RP Zack Thompson is scheduled to start for Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday.

Pirates SP Marco Gonzales (forearm) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis on Monday.

Total Runs Facts

• Nine of the Cardinals’ last 10 games as underdogs against NL Central opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
• Seven of the Pirates’ last eight home games after playing the previous day have gone UNDER the total runs line.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Cardinals’ last eight games as underdogs against NL Central opponents.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the last seven games between the Cardinals and Pirates.

Pittsburgh Pirates Player Prop Facts

• Bryan Reynolds has recorded at least one RBI in eight of the Pirates’ last nine games as home favorites.
• Bryan Reynolds has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 15 Wednesday night appearances with the Pirates at PNC Park.
• Bryan Reynolds has scored a run in each of his last six home appearances against the Cardinals after playing the previous day.
• Andrew McCutchen has hit a home run in each of the Pirates’ last two games as home favorites against the Cardinals.
• Edward Olivares has recorded at least one Single in each of his last six appearances after playing the previous day.
• Bryan Reynolds has recorded at least one total base in each of his last 15 Wednesday night appearances at PNC Park.
• Joey Bart has recorded a Double in each of his last three appearances with his team as a favorite against NL Central opponents.

St. Louis Cardinals Player Prop Facts

• Miles Mikolas has recorded five or more strikeouts in four of his last five appearances with the Cardinals as underdogs against NL Central opponents.
• Miles Mikolas has recorded a win in four of his last five appearances with the Cardinals as road underdogs.
• Willson Contreras has recorded at least one total base in each of his last 15 road appearances after playing the previous day.
• Willson Contreras has recorded at least one Double in four of his last five road appearances against opponents that held a losing record.
• Willson Contreras has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 15 road appearances after playing the previous day.
• Lars Nootbaar has scored at least one run in six of his last seven appearances against the Pirates.
• Brendan Donovan has recorded at least one RBI in eight of the Cardinals’ last nine night games.
• Willson Contreras has hit a home run in two of his last three road appearances against NL Central opponents.
• Nolan Arenado has recorded at least one Single in each of his last eight Wednesday appearances against NL teams that held a losing record.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction

I might take a stab on the Cardinals here. Mikolas certainly needs a bounce-back outing, though. He’s coming off nine earned on 12 hits and a walk in 4.1 innings during a loss to the Reds. That makes 13 earned runs in Mikolas’ last 10.1 innings. As for Jones, he’s got eight earned over his last two starts in 11.2 innings, going 1-1 in that pair.

On Tuesday the Cardinals jumped out to a 6-0 lead after four and never looked back. Both Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson homered, helping to boost a pretty nice bullpen effort. I like St. Louis to keep it going Wednesday.