The Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals meet Tuesday in MLB action from Busch Stadium. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction.
Starting Pitching Matchup
The Pittsburgh Pirates will send out Paul Skenes for the start here and Skenes is 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA and 38 strikeouts this season. This will be Skenes’ first career start against the Cardinals. The St. Louis Cardinals will trot out Miles Mikolas for the start here and Mikolas is 4-6 with a 5.32 ERA and 53 strikeouts this season. In his last five starts against the Pirates, Mikolas is 4-6 with a 5.32 ERA and 53 strikeouts.
Pittsburgh Pirates Recap
The Pittsburgh Pirates come into this one looking to rebound after falling short in their series finale against the Minnesota Twins in an 11-5 loss on Sunday in the series finale. Despite the loss, the Pirates still managed to secure back-to-back series wins after taking down the Dodgers this time last week.
Pirates Trying To String Together Consistent Offense
Bryan Reynolds leads the Pirates with 69 hits with 15 doubles along with 8 home runs and 35 RBIs while Andrew McCutchen has 8 home runs and Jack Suwinski has a team-high 5 stolen bases. Oneil Cruz leads the Pirates with 80 strikeouts while also posting 13 doubles, 9 home runs and 25 RBIs and Connor Joe has a .263 batting average and 14 doubles as well this season.
Why the Pittsburgh Pirates will win
- The Cardinals have lost each of their last seven games against the Pirates following a win.
- The Pirates have won each of their last five night games following a loss.
- The Cardinals have failed to cover the run line in each of their last seven games against the Pirates following a win.
- The Pirates have covered the run line in 10 of their last 11 night games against NL Central opponents.
- The Pirates have led after 5 innings in each of their last six games as favorites.
St. Louis Cardinals Recap
The St. Louis Cardinals come into this one looking to pick up some momentum after earning a series split with the Colorado Rockies after a 5-1 win in Sunday’s series finale. Despite the split, it was yet another series without coming out ahead after series losses to the Astros and Phillies over the last week and a half.
Cardinals Having Consistency Issues Of Their Own
Nolan Arenado leads the Cardinals with 60 hits along with 10 doubles and 30 RBIs while Brendan Donovan has 27 RBIs with 15 doubles. Nolan Gorman has a team-high 14 home runs along with 32 RBIs in addition to 8 doubles while Masyn Winn has a .306 batting average and 8 stolen bases. Paul Goldschmidt also has a team-high 80 strikeouts as well this season.
Why the St. Louis Cardinals will win
- The underdogs have won each of the Pirates’ last three games.
- The Pirates have lost each of their last three games as favorites after going to extra innings.
- The Cardinals have covered the run line in eight of their last nine games as home underdogs.
- The Pirates have failed to cover the run line in seven of their last eight games as favorites following a loss.
- The Cardinals have led after 3 innings in three of their last four games as underdogs.
- The Cardinals have won the first inning in three of their last four games as underdogs against the Pirates.
St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction
I’m on the Pirates here. Skenes has been every bit as good as advertised up to this point and I don’t expect that to change here against a Cardinals team that is solid, but has some issues stringing wins together. The Pirates just seem to come to play offensively behind Skenes and I don’t see that being any different against Mikolas who still has an ERA over five this season. All in all, I think the Pirates draw first blood here and build on their series win over the Twins. Give me Pittsburgh.