St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction & Betting Tips 6/12/2024

St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates Preview

The forecast for Wednesday’s Pirates vs. Cardinals matchup calls for partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the upper 80s. This one is getting started at 7:45 PM ET from Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and the Cardinals are favored on the money line (-169). The money line odds for the Pirates are sitting at +144, and their record is 32-34, while the Cardinals are 31-34.

BSMW will be televising this NL Central matchup, and Wednesday’s pitching matchup features Bailey Falter for the Pirates and Sonny Gray for the Cardinals. Gray is 3-3 with a 3.72 ERA this season.

Check out BetCoco for St. Louis Cardinals – Pittsburgh Pirates odds

St. Louis Cardinals Trends and Key Stats

• The Pirates are 3-2 in their five most recent road games, including a 3-2 runline record.
• The Cardinals, on the other hand, have played five home games recently, during which they have recorded a 2-3 (SU) and 2-3 record.
• The Cardinals have a straight-up record of 6-4 in their last ten games as the favorite, and a 4-6 record vs. the runline.
• Over their previous ten games as the underdog, the Pirates have a straight-up record of 5-5 and a 6-4 record vs. the runline.

Pittsburgh picked up a 2-1 road win over the Cardinals in the most recent game of this series. The Pirates had a two-run 9th inning, scoring the game’s final two runs. As for the Cardinals, they scored their only run in the 5th inning.

Colin Holderman got the win for the Pirates out of the bullpen, while David Bednar got the save. Ryan Helsley took the loss for St. Louis out of the bullpen.

Paul Skenes started for the Pirates, going 6 1/3 innings and not giving up a run. He finished the game with eight strikeouts but didn’t factor into the decision. Miles Mikolas had a good outing for the Cardinals, giving up just one run in seven innings of work.

St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction

Pittsburgh is 32-34 overall and 6.5 games behind the Brewers in the NL Central. The Pirates are 8-7 in the division and have won two straight games as the underdog. This season, they are 10-15 as the favorite and 22-19 as the underdog.

At home, the Pirates are 16-17 this year, and they have been good on the road, also going 16-17. Pittsburgh has won two straight series and has an overall series record of 8-9-4 this year. The Pirates have gone 6-4 over their last 10 games.

When the Pirates win, they win big. Their average run margin in winning games is +3.0 runs per game, while their average run margin in losing games is -3.4 runs per game. The Pirates have been a good bet against the run line this season, going 37-29 overall. They are 20-13 against the run line on the road and 29-12 against the run line as an underdog.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road today against the St. Louis Cardinals. The over/under line for the game is set at 8 runs. The combined run average for Pirates games this season is 8.5 runs per game. Overall, the Pirates have a 34-31 over/under record this season. When the over/under line is set at 8 runs, the Pirates have a 9-9 record. So far this season, 42.4% of Pirates games have had over/under lines set at over 8 runs, while 30.3% have had lines set at under 8 runs.

Pittsburgh is sending left-hander Bailey Falter to the mound today vs. the Cardinals. He has made 12 starts this season and has a record of 3-3 with a 3.69 ERA. Falter’s WHIP for the season is currently 1.04, and opponents are batting .213 this season. In his last outing, he took the loss, giving up five earned runs in four innings of work vs. the Dodgers. Before that, he had won two straight starts. One of those outings was vs. the Braves, where he gave up just one earned run in 7 1/3 innings of work.

Heading into today’s game, the Pirates are averaging 4.1 runs per game, which is 20th in the league. This includes averaging 4.2 runs per game on the road and 4.0 runs per game at home. As a team, they are batting just .230 and have the 17th ranked on-base percentage and slugging percentage in the league. The Pirates have been one of the league’s worst home run-hitting teams, as their 60 homers are 17th in the league.

Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds have been two of the Pirates’ top power threats this season, with Cruz leading the team with nine homers and Reynolds right behind him with eight. Reynolds is also the team’s leader in RBIs and is on a nine-game hitting streak. In his last five games, Reynolds is 7/20, while Cruz has gone 5/18 with two homers in this stretch.

St. Louis is 31-34 overall and is 3rd in the NL Central, seven games behind the Brewers and Cubs for the division lead. The Cardinals are 5-8 in divisional games this year and lost the first game of this series vs. the Pirates.

At home, the Cardinals are 15-15 this season compared to a 16-19 mark on the road. So far, they have been the favorite in 31 games, going 16-15 as the favorite. As the underdog, the Cardinals are 15-19 this year, and their overall series record is 10-10-1.

When betting the run line on the St. Louis Cardinals, it’s been a good idea to take the underdog. The Cardinals are 20-14 against the run line as the underdog this season, compared to just 12-19 as the favorite. Their overall run line record is 32-33, with an average run differential of -0.6 runs per game. In their wins, they’ve been outscoring opponents by an average of 2.5 runs per game, while in losses, they’ve been outscored by an average of 3.5 runs per game.

St. Louis has seen the over hit in 28 of their 62 games this season, and the over/under line for today’s game is set at 8 runs. The Cardinals have played in 35 games with an over/under line set higher than 8 runs, and they have gone 4-7-1 in games with an 8-run line. Their games have averaged 8.5 runs per game this season, and they have hit the under in two straight games.

Sonny Gray gets the start for the Cardinals today and comes into the game with a record of 7-4 and an ERA of 3.21. In his 11 starts, Gray has made four quality starts and is averaging 11.97 strikeouts per nine innings. Most recently, he took the loss against the Rockies, giving up three earned runs in 4 2/3 innings of work. Before that outing, he had won three straight starts. Gray has been much better at home, with an ERA of 1.70 compared to 5.40 on the road.

So far this season, the Cardinals are averaging 3.9 runs per game, which is 24th in the MLB. Their team batting average of .235 is 13th in the league, and they are also near the middle of the pack in on-base percentage and slugging. Currently, the Cardinals have the 16th most home runs in the league and have the 2nd and 4th home run hitters in the league right now.

Nolan Gorman comes into the game with 15 homers, which is the best mark in the MLB right now. However, he has struggled of late, going just 5/28 in his last seven games. Alec Burleson has also hit two homers in his last seven games, but he is batting .357 during that stretch. Burleson’s nine homers is 2nd on the team, and he is batting .283 for the season.

Our pick for today’s Pirates vs. Cardinals matchup is to take the Pirates on the money line, with the payout sitting at +144. We have the Pirates taking this one by a final score of 5-4.

Looking at the starting pitchers, we have Sonny Gray finishing with six strikeouts compared to Bailey Falter with just four. However, Gray is projected to give up more hits than Falter, and we have him finishing with a 4.50 ERA compared to Falter at 3.90.

St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Tips

• We like the Pirates on the moneyline (+144)
• The Pirates are also our pick on the spread at +1.5
• Projecting a combined 9 runs, we like the over

St. Louis Cardinals Injury Report

Pittsburgh Pirates Injury Report