Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Betting Pick & Prediction 9/16/24
Monday’s forecast in St. Louis calls for scattered clouds and temperatures in the low 90s. First pitch from Busch Stadium is set for 7:45 PM ET. SN PT will be televising this matchup, and the Pirates are favored on the money line, with their odds sitting at -140 compared to the Cardinals at +119.
This NL Central matchup features the Pirates, who are 71-78 and the Cardinals, who are 74-75. Pittsburgh will be starting Paul Skene, while the Cardinals are sending Andre Pallante to the mound. St. Louis is currently on a three-game losing streak.
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS VS PITTSBURGH PIRATES BETTING PICK
The Pick: St. Louis Cardinals Moneyline +119
This game will be played at Busch Stadium at 7:45 ET on Monday, September 16th.
HOW TO BET THE PIRATES VS CARDINALS:
- We have the Cardinals winning by a score of 5 to 4
- If you’re looking for a run line pick, we also like the Cardinals to cover
- As for an over/under pick, we have this game finishing with 9 runs and like the over
Pirates Records & Stats
The Pirates’s offense was hot right out of the gates in their most recent game vs. the Royals, closing out their series with a 4-3 win. After allowing one run to the Royals in the top of the first, the Pirates responded with a run of their own. Pittsburgh went on to add another three runs in the 2nd inning.
Jared Jones got the start for the Pirates, going four innings and giving up just two runs on six hits. He only had three strikeouts in the outing and took the win. The Pirates’s bullpen was excellent, as they didn’t allow a run over the final five innings. Aroldis Chapman closed things out in the 9th, picking up the save.
Pittsburgh is on the road today, taking on the Cardinals with an overall record of 71-78. The Pirates are in 5th place in the NL Central, trailing the Brewers by 15 games. So far, they have gone 22-20 in divisional games.
At home, the Pirates are 38-40 this season, and they are just below .500 at 33-38 on the road. This year, they have gone 34-27 as the favorite and 37-51 as the underdog. As the road favorite, the Pirates have gone 11-6 this season.
When the Pirates win, they do so by an average of 3.2 runs per game. However, when they lose, they do so by an average of 3.6 runs per game. Their run line record is 81-68, with a 43-28 mark on the road and a 38-40 mark at home. As the underdog, they are 57-31 on the run line, while they are 24-37 as the favorite. Their average run margin for the season is -0.4 runs per game.
Despite the Pittsburgh Pirates’ combined run average of 8.8 runs per game, the over/under line for their game against the St. Louis Cardinals is set at just 7 runs. Pittsburgh has a record of 4-2-1 in games with an over/under line of 7 runs this season, and 93.3% of their games have had higher lines than this one. The under has hit in their last two games, but they have an overall over/under record of 73-74 this season.
Right-hander Paul Skenes gets the start for the Pirates today as he faces the Cardinals on the road. Skenes has made 20 starts this season and has a record of 10-2. His ERA for the season is an impressive 2.10, along with a WHIP of .99. Skenes has turned in 14 quality starts this year and is coming off an outing in which he allowed just one earned run in six innings of work. In that outing, he gave up six hits and issued one walk. Skenes has won each of his last three starts.
Heading into today’s game, the Pirates offense is averaging 4.2 runs per game, which is 20th in the league. This is also the 22nd ranked home run hitting team in the league. As a team, they are batting .236, which is 19th in the league. The Pirates have two hitters with at least 20 homers, with Bryan Reynolds leading the team with 22 homers and a batting average of .282.
Reynolds has also been hot of late, going 10/23 in his last six games. Andrew McCutchen is 2nd on the team with 20 homers but is batting just .237 for the season. He has also gone just 4/17 in his last five games. McCutchen is also 5th on the team with 50 RBIs.
Cardinals Records & Stats
Lars Nootbaar had a big game for the Cardinals in their most recent game vs. the Blue Jays, going 2/4 with a homer and scoring both of their runs. However, the Cardinals couldnjson’t come up with the win, as they fell 3-2. St. Louis was the +107 underdog going into this road game.
Miles Mikolas started for the Cardinals, going five innings and giving up two runs on three hits. He only had four strikeouts in the outing and took the loss. The Cardinals’ offense scored their other run in the 5th inning but couldn’t complete the comeback.
St. Louis is currently 74-75 overall, and they are 12 games behind the Brewers in the NL Central. The Cardinals lost the final game of their series vs. the Brewers and then dropped the first two games of their series vs. the Blue Jays. St. Louis is 23-25 in divisional games this year.
At home, the Cardinals are 39-35 this season, and they are 35-40 on the road. St. Louis has dropped three straight games, and they are just 4-6 across their last 10.
When betting the Cardinals on the run line this season, it’s been a better proposition to take them as the underdog. They have a run line record of 51-28 in those games compared to 23-47 when they’re the favorite. Their overall run line record is 74-75, and their average run differential in those games is -0.4 runs per game.
St. Louis has been a high-scoring team this season, as their games have averaged 8.6 runs per game. Their O/U record for the season is 70-75, and the average O/U line for their games is 8 runs. When the O/U line has been set at 7 runs, their record is 2-2-2. The O/U line for their games has been set at 7 runs just 6 times this season, with the vast majority of their games having higher O/U lines.
Right-hander Andre Pallante gets the start for the Cardinals today as he faces the Pirates at home. Pallante has made 17 starts this season and has a record of 6-8 with an ERA of 4.13. Looking back at his last outing, Pallante took the loss, giving up three earned runs in five innings of work vs. the Reds. He has given up at least two home runs in three of his last four outings. One positive note is that Pallante has a WHIP of 1.40 and batting average allowed of .230. This season, he has turned in five quality starts and is averaging 6.77 strikeouts per nine innings.
Heading into today’s game, the Cardinals offense is averaging just 4.1 runs per game, which is 25th in the league. They are also near the bottom of the league in home runs and have a collective batting average of just .246. Alec Burleson and Paul Goldschmidt are tied for the team lead with 21 homers apiece, but Goldschmidt is hitting just .246 this season, and Burleson’s batting average is only .270.
Over his last five games, Brendan Donovan has gone 4/16 with one homer and two RBIs. For the season, he is batting .270 with 12 homers. Masyn Winn and Nolan Gorman are also near the top of the Cardinals’ home run leaderboard, but Gorman is hitting just .203, and Winn has gone just 4/18 in his last four games.