The St Louis Cardinals come into a weekend series on a two-game skid. However, Pittsburgh Pirates give them the best chances of making a rebound.
Historically, the Cardinals do well against their National League Central rival. They will use this series to help break out of a 4-6 slump in their last 10 games.
The last two games for the St Louis Cardinals’ bullpen hurt the team. After making a comeback in Thursday’s game against the New York Mets, the bullpen blew the game in the 10th inning. They allowed two runs during the bottom of the inning, which gave the Mets a walk-off win.
However, that bullpen can redeem themselves against a Pittsburgh Pirates team that’s not the best. T.J. McFarland, who got hammered in the Mets series, might see some action and could improve his 9.00 ERA with an appearance against the Pirates.
Newcomer Jake Walsh could also see action in Friday’s game. He started off his first two MLB appearances strong, but was knocked around by the Mets in his last mound appearance.
Last Meeting Between Teams
The Pittsburgh Pirates would love a repeat of their last game against the St Louis Cardinals. The offensive production they got from that game will be important.
Ben Gamel, who’s currently in a slump, was 2-for-4 with two runs scored in their last game against the Cardinals. Michael Chavis is currently on a three-game hitting streak and did great against the Cardinals in that game, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs.
The Pirates will need a strong start from Zach Thompson (2-3 5.47 ERA). Thompson’s last two starts saw him pitch 11 innings total while only allowing three hits and zero runs.
Cardinals vs Pirates Head-to-Head
The first series saw the Cardinals walk away with two wins out of three games. They also haven’t had a losing season against the Pittsburgh Pirates since 2012, when the Pirates went 8-7 against them.
The St Louis Cardinals will get back on track against the Pittsburgh Pirates. They have only lost four series against the Pirates since 2018. The Cardinals are also solid against the spread with a 21-17 record.
The Pirates are 18-19 ATS while having a 10-9 spread record as a home team. So they are hit or miss when dealing with the run spread. They also didn’t cover in both losses to St. Louis.
That’s why when betting online and making your MLB picks and parlays, taking the Cardinals and giving away the 1½ runs is the best play.
Ryan Knuppel has been writing about sports & sports betting topics online for over 15 years. He was a college basketball All-American in the early 2000's and has always had a deep understanding for sports. Ryan was the 2011 Buffalo Wild Wings National "Pickem" Winner which earned him a trip to play flag football with Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders. He was also a 2015 FanDuel.com Playboy Mansion NBA Championships Qualifier in daily fantasy sports. But his true claim to fame is the fact that he has played basketball with and against THE Michael Jordan numerous times in his life. Ryan is excited to be writing and covering sports here and would love to hear from you on social media.
