The Pirates make the trip to St. Louis to face the Cardinals! These two teams are very similar and they have been inconsistent all season, but they are fighting for positioning in the MLB and in the same division. Our MLB odds series has our Pirates-Cardinals prediction, odds, and pick for Wednesday.

Pirates-Cardinals Projected Starters 

Bailey Falter vs. Sonny Gray

Bailey Falter (3-3) with a 3.69 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP

Last Start: Pitched four innings and gave up five runs on eight hits with two walks and six strikeouts in a Pirates loss.

2024 Road Splits: (1-2) 3.86 ERA

Sonny Gray (7-4) with a 3.21 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP

Last Start: Pitched 4.2 innings and gave up three runs on two hits with four walks and five strikeouts in Cardinals loss.

2024 Home Splits: (4-2) 1.60 ERA

Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Pirates-Cardinals Odds

Pittsburgh Pirates: +1.5 (-152)

Moneyline: +140

St. Louis Cardinals: -1.5 (+126)

Moneyline: -166

Over: 8 (-110)

Under: 8 (-110)

How to Watch Pirates vs. Cardinals

Time: 7:45 pm ET

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TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why The Pirates Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Pirates have been very inconsistent and have a 31-34 record. They have struggled behind the plate, but their pitching has been average and in the middle of the pack this season. Connor Joe, Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, Andrew McCutchen, and Jack Suwinski have been solid behind the plate despite the offensive struggles as a whole. Bailey Falter, Jared Jones, and Mitch Keller have been solid for the pitching staff. It is also worth noting that Paul Skenes has started five games and has been great in that capacity so far. The Pirates have struggled to find any consistency this season, but they get a perfect matchup against the Cardinals.

The Pirates are starting Bailey Falter as pitcher where he has a 3-3 record, a 3.69 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. Through 68.1 innings, he has allowed 28 runs on 53 hits with 18 walks and 44 strikeouts. He has started 12 games this season, and the Pirates have gone 6-6. Bailey Falter has been a big key for the Pirates in their pitching staff this season. He also gets a favorable matchup against a Cardinals offense that has not impressed much this season.

The offense for the Pirates has struggled this season. They are 23rd in the MLB in team batting average at .231 after having a batting average of .239 last season. Connor Joe, Andrew McCutchen, Oneil Cruz, and Bryan Reynolds are the leaders in almost every batting category. Reynolds leads in RBI at 35 and in total hits at 69. Joe leads in batting average at .263, Cruz leads in home runs at nine, and McCutchen leads the way in OBP at .339. They get a tough matchup in this spot against Sonny Gray on the mound for the Cardinals.

Why The Cardinals Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Cardinals have been inconsistent this season and have a 31-33 record. The Cardinals have been around average across both offense and defense this season. It is a massive reason why they can't find any consistency. Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, and Willson Contreras have at least tried to stand out on a bad offense. On the mound, Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, and Sonny Gray have been solid for a unit that has struggled this season. This will be an interesting matchup in the division because these two teams are having very similar seasons.

The Cardinals are starting Sonny Gray as pitcher, where he has a 7-4 record, a 3.21 ERA, and a 1.07 WHIP up to this point in the season. Through 61.2 innings, he has allowed 27 runs on 47 hits with 19 walks and 82 strikeouts. In his 11 appearances this season, the Cardinals have gone 7-4. Gray has arguably been the best pitcher available for the Cardinals this season. He gets a favorable matchup against the Pirates and their offense which has struggled to get going all season.

The offense for the Cardinals has struggled this season. They are 18th in team-batting average at .235 after finishing last season with a .250 batting average by comparison. Masynn Winn, Nolan Gorman, and Nolan Arenado lead the way for the Cardinals in most batting categories. Winn leads in batting average at .306 and in OBP at .355. Gorman leads the way in home runs at 14 and in RBI at 32. Finally, Arenado leads the way in total hits at 60. The Cardinals' struggles do not get any easier with a matchup against Bailey Falter on the mound for the Pirates and how well he has played this season.

Final Pirates-Cardinals Prediction & Pick

This is going to be a low-scoring game with the Pirates and Cardinals both struggling at times behind the plate this season. It will be determined based on pitcher with this battle being between Bailey Falter and Sonny Gray. The Cardinals might still win, especially with the game at home, but the Pirates should cover and make this very close even on the road.

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Final Pirates-Cardinals Prediction & Pick: Pirates +1.5 (-152)