Cardinals vs. Pirates Pick
Can the St. Louis Cardinals bounce back with a win Sunday afternoon at the Pittsburgh Pirates? First pitch is at 7:35PM EST.
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Cardinals are a -114 favorite to win on the moneyline. The Pirates are a -106 underdog and the over-under is set at 9.
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John Gant (0-0, 3.86 ERA) gets the start for St. Louis, while Pittsburgh will go with Jameson Taillon (7-7, 4.73). This will be Gant’s first start after five appearances out of the bullpen, where he allowed four earned runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and five walks over 9 1/3 innings. Taillon has a 1.55 WHIP with 114 strikeouts in 121 2/3 innings. He allowed two earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk over five innings in a 3-0 home loss to the Brewers his last start.
The Cardinals are 81-73 on the season and 39-41 on the road, while the Pirates are 70-85 and 41-37 at home. St Louis has won six of the last 10 meetings and the total has gone under six times.
Pittsburgh scored eight runs in the first inning Saturday night to roll to an 11-6 victory. Adam Frazier was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and two runs. Starling Marte went 1-for-3 with a triple, a walk and two RBIs. David Freese was 2-for-5 with a double, a run and three RBIs. Gregory Polanco went 3-for-4 with a run. Elias Diaz was 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. Jordy Mercer ended the night 3-for-3 with a double, two runs and four RBIs. Gerrit Cole gave up five earned runs in 5 2/3 innings to record the win. Matt Carpenter was 2-for-3 for a run to help pace the Cardinals. Tommy Pham was 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBIs. Lance Lynn was knocked around for eight runs in 0 2/3 innings to take the loss.
Saturday went about as bad as possible for the Cardinals, a team now sitting 1.5 games behind Colorado for the second NL Wild Card spot. You’d imagine they would bounce back here, but Taillon has looked sharp of late and St. Louis is starting someone making his first MLB start of the season. We’ll side with the Pirates as a small dog.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: PITTSBURGH PIRATES -106
