PNC Park hosts a late morning tilt between NL Central rivals on Sunday. The Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals square off in a standalone window in front of a national audience. The matchup is also the final game of a three-game weekend set, with the Cardinals winning the first two contests. St. Louis is 22-18 overall and Pittsburgh is 16-23 this season.
First pitch is at 11:35 a.m. ET in Pittsburgh. St. Louis is a -154 favorite (risk $154 to win $100) on the money line, while the over-under, or total number of runs Vegas thinks will be scored, is 8.5 in the latest Cardinals vs. Pirates odds. Before you make any Pirates vs. Cardinals picks, you need to see the MLB predictions and betting advice from SportsLine’s advanced computer model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every MLB game 10,000 times and it is off to a profitable start to the 2022 season. It’s on a 33-25 roll on top-rated MLB money-line picks through six weeks, returning over $300 for $100 players. Anyone following it has seen some huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Cardinals vs. Pirates, and just locked in its picks and MLB predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the picks. Here are several MLB odds and trends for Pirates vs. Cardinals:
- Cardinals vs. Pirates money line: Cardinals -154, Pirates +130
- Cardinals vs. Pirates over-under: 8.5 runs
- Cardinals vs. Pirates run line: Cardinals -1.5
- Cardinals vs. Pirates tickets: See tickets at StubHub
- STL: The Cardinals are 12-10 in road games
- PIT: The Pirates are 9-12 in home games
Why you should back the Cardinals
The Cardinals have the much more potent offense in this head-to-head matchup. St. Louis leads the National League in strikeout rate (19.4 percent) and stolen bases (35), with intriguing numbers across the board. St. Louis is in the top three of the NL in batting average (.250) and doubles (71), with a top-tier on-base percentage (.320) to boot. The Cardinals also have star power with Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and Tommy Edman, all three of whom rank in the top 15 of the National League in wins above replacement.
Arenado has nine home runs and a .544 slugging percentage to go along with elite defense. Goldschmidt boasts a .409 on-base percentage, a .566 slugging percentage, and an NL-leading 16 doubles. Edman has an .801 OPS, elite defensive credentials, and nine stolen bases. On the other side, Pittsburgh is dead-last in the NL with only 129 runs scored, and the Pirates rank in the bottom two of the league with 30 home runs, 51 doubles, a .293 on-base percentage, and a .348 slugging percentage.
Why you should back the Pirates
Pittsburgh has an appetizing matchup on offense on Sunday. The Pirates are facing Steven Matz, and the Cardinals starter has a 6.03 ERA this season. Opponents have an OPS of .807 against Matz in 2022, and he is allowing 1.93 home runs per nine innings this season. Earlier this season, the Pirates blasted Matz for seven earned runs in only three innings of work, and Matz has a 5.61 ERA in his career against Pittsburgh.
The Pirates also rank in the top three of the National League with eight triples this season, and Pittsburgh can also benefit from a few shortcomings of St. Louis. The Cardinals are below the National League average in home runs this season, and St. Louis has a very modest walk rate of 8.3 percent.
How to make Pirates vs. Cardinals picks
SportsLine’s model is leaning over on the total, projecting 8.9 combined runs. It also says one side of the money line has all the value. You can only get the model’s MLB picks at SportsLine.
Who will win Cardinals vs. Pirates? And which team has all the value on the money line? Visit SportsLine now to see which side you need to jump on, all from the model that has crushed its MLB picks, and find out.