The Pittsburgh Pirates (71-78) travel to face off against the St. Louis Cardinals (74-75) on Monday, September 16th. This game will be played at Busch Stadium in St. Louis and televised on SN PT. The Pirates are coming off a win in their previous game, while the Cardinals are looking to get back on track from a loss to the Blue Jays. First pitch is set for 6:45 CT.

Pirates vs. Cardinals Betting Prediction

• Money Line Prediction: Cardinals (+119)
• Over/Under Prediction: Over 7 Runs

• The Cardinals have a 5-2 record in their last 7 home games.
• The Cardinals have scored an average of 5.2 runs per game in their last 5 home games.
• The Cardinals have won 4 out of their last 5 games against the Pirates.
• The Cardinals have a higher league rank (9th) compared to the Pirates (12th).
• The Cardinals have a better home record (39-35) compared to the Pirates’ away record (33-38).

Pirates vs Cardinals

The Pirates Are Coming Off A Win

Pittsburgh is coming off a game in which they closed out their series vs. the Royals with a 4-3 win. Leading up to the game, they were the slight favorite at -113 on the money line. It was a good start for the Pirates, as they got on the board with a run in the 1st inning and added another run in the 2nd.

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 loss. The Pirates’ offense was carried by Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who went 3/5 with two runs scored.

As underdogs, the Pirates have a 57-31 run line record, but as favorites, they are 24-37. Their series record this season is 20-21-6, and they have gone 6-4 in their last 10 games. Overall, the Pirates are 71-78 and trail the Reds by a game for 4th place in the NL Central.

When the Pirates play games with a 7-run total, the over has hit in 93.3% of their games this season. Their combined run average is 8.8 runs per game, and their over/under record is 73-74. The average run line for their games is 8 runs.

Paul Skenes Gets The Start For The Pirates

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 year and has a record of 10-2 to go along with a 2.10 ERA. Looking at his overall numbers, Skenes has a WHIP of .99 and opponents are batting .199 off him this year. Skenes has turned in 14 quality starts and is averaging 11.32 strikeouts per nine innings. In his last outing, he gave up just one earned run in six innings of work, picking up the win. Before that, he had given up at least two earned runs in three straight starts.

Pirates Offense Breakdown

For the season, the Pirates are averaging 4.2 runs per game, which is 20th in the league. They have been slightly better at home, averaging 4.3 runs per game. As a team, the Pirates are batting just .236 and are near the bottom of the league in home runs. However, they do have the 9th best BABIP in the league.

Andrew McCutchen is 2nd on the Pirates with 20 homers this season but is batting just .237. He is also coming off a stretch in which he has gone 4/17. Bryan Reynolds has been hot of late, going 10/23 in his last six games and is also on a six-game hitting streak.

The Cardinals Took The Last Game Of This Series

The Cardinals will be looking to get back on track after closing out their series vs. the Blue Jays with a 3-2 loss. This was especially tough, as they held a lead going into the 7th inning before the Blue Jays scored a run in the bottom of the 7th to tie things up. St. Louis was the +107 underdog on the money line going into this matchup.

Miles Mikolas had a good start for the Cardinals, going five innings and giving up just two runs on three hits. He only had four strikeouts in the outing and took the loss. Lars Nootbaar had a big game at the plate, going 2/4 with a homer and scoring both of the Cardinals runs.

St. Louis has an overall run line record of 74-75 this season, with an average run margin of -0.4 runs per game. As the underdog, they have a strong 51-28 run line record. The Cardinals are currently 3rd in the NL Central, 2 games behind the Cubs for the 2nd spot, and trail the Brewers by 12 games in the division.

The O/U line for today’s game is set at 7 runs, which is lower than the average O/U line of 8 runs for Cardinals games this season. The O/U record for games with a 7-run line is 2-2-2. St. Louis has a 39-35 record at home and are 14-10 as the home underdog this season.

Andre Pallante Gets The Start For The Cardinals

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. So far, he has turned in five quality starts and is averaging 6.77 strikeouts per nine innings. In his last outing, Pallante took the loss, giving up three earned runs in five innings of work. Before that, he had given up five earned runs in three straight starts. Pallante’s ERA at home is 3.56 compared to 4.17 on the road.

Cardinals Offense Breakdown

St. Louis comes into the game with the 25th ranked scoring offense in the league, averaging just 4.1 runs per game. They have been even worse on the road, averaging only 4.0 runs per contest. As a team, they are batting .246, which is 12th in the league, and their team on-base percentage of .309 is 15th in the MLB.

Over his last five games, Brendan Donovan has gone 4/16 with a home run and two RBIs. For the season, he is batting .270 with 12 homers. Alec Burleson and Paul Goldschmidt are tied for the team lead with 21 home runs, with Burleson also leading the team with 73 RBIs.

Pirates vs Cardinals Prediction

Looking at the money line, we have the Cardinals picking up a win and see them taking this one by a score of 5-4. With the Cardinals being the underdogs at +119, this is a great payout for a team that we have winning 55% of the time.

There are a few player props you could look at in this one, and looking at the starting pitchers, we have Paul Skenes finishing with five strikeouts compared to Andre Pallante with four.

All odds are courtesy of Action247 Sportsbook. Good luck!!

* All odds are provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.Action247 does not warrant the accuracy of completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these post.