The Pittsburgh Pirates will take on the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night. It's time to continue our MLB odds series and make a Pirates-Cardinals prediction and pick.

 

These teams have had vastly different seasons. The Pirates, unsurprisingly, have been one of the more mediocre teams in baseball. They own a 24-35 record, a mark that already has them nine games back of first place in the NL Central. The Cardinals have had far more success. St. Louis is currently in first place in their division with a 35-27 record. The Cardinals have quietly turned into one of the best teams in baseball, and they'll look to keep things going against this terrible Pirates squad. With that being said, let's cut to the chase and get into the pick.

This will be the second game of a doubleheader.

Here are the Pirates-Cardinals MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel

MLB Odds: Pirates-Cardinals Odds

Pittsburgh Pirates: +1.5 (-118)

St. Louis Cardinals: -1.5 (-102)

Over: 9 (-105)

Under: 9 (-114)

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Why The Pirates Could Cover the Spread

The Cardinals will deploy starting pitcher Miles Mikolas to the mound in this game. Mikolas has been surprisingly solid this season, but there's reason to believe that the Pirates can get to him in this contest. There are four hitters in the Pittsburgh lineup that own a .350 career batting average or higher against Mikolas. The last time the righty faced the Pirates, he quickly allowed two runs over three innings. Overall, this matchup isn't as good as it looks at first glance for Mikolas.

It helps that the Pirates have been slightly better offensively in the month of June than in previous months. Pittsburgh has seen a rise in batting average and OPS throughout the last couple of weeks, showing that they aren't as easy of a matchup as many people expected. Mikolas won't cruise through this matchup, and the St. Louis bullpen should be exhausted as this is the second leg of a double-header. Pittsburgh's offense will exceed expectations here.

Why The Cardinals Could Cover the Spread

The Cardinals have nearly every single advantage in this matchup. One of their biggest advantages is the fact that they'll face one of the worst pitchers in the league in this game. Bryse Wilson has been absolutely awful for the Pirates, earning himself a 7.53 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP over 28 innings of work. Normally, win-loss records aren't a good way to track a pitcher's performance, but it's safe to say that Wilson has earned his 0-3 record on the year. The last time Wilson faced the Cardinals, he gave up a whopping seven runs over 1.2 innings. The time before that, St. Louis shelled him for three runs over four innings. There's no reason to think anything will be any different in this matchup.

These teams have obviously already faced each other this season, and the results have been largely one-sided. St. Louis is 6-1 against the Pirates on the season, including a three-game sweep of their division rivals in late May. Pittsburgh is also already on a seven-game losing streak as they enter this contest. This is a clearly winnable matchup for the Cardinals and a game that they have often covered in the past.

Final Pirates-Cardinals Prediction & Pick

This is an easy pick. Lock in the Cardinals against a struggling Pirates team and don't look back. Wilson is bad enough to get completely shelled, and Mikolas is a solid pitcher capable of holding a lead. Don't overcomplicate this one.

Final Pirates-Cardinals Prediction & Pick: Cardinals -1.5 (-102)