Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction MLB Picks 6/12/24

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals meet Wednesday in MLB action from Busch Stadium. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction.

Starting Pitching Matchup

The Pittsburgh Pirates will send out Bailey Falter for the start here and Falter is 3-3 with a 3.69 ERA and 44 strikeouts this season. This will be Falter’s second career start against the Cardinals. The St. Louis Cardinals will start Sonny Gray here and Gray is 7-4 with a 3.21 ERA and 82 strikeouts this season. In his last five career starts against the Pirates, Gray is 3-1 with a 4.45 ERA and 32 strikeouts.

Pittsburgh Pirates Recap

The Pittsburgh Pirates come into this one looking to build on their 2-1 win over the Cardinals in Tuesday’s series opener. The win put the Pirates on the right track to potentially win their third series in a row after taking down the Twins and Dodgers over the last week.

Pirates Starting To Put It Together

Going into Tuesday’s opener, Bryan Reynolds leads the Pirates with 69 hits with 15 doubles along with 8 home runs and 35 RBIs while Andrew McCutchen has 8 home runs and Jack Suwinski has a team-high 5 stolen bases. Oneil Cruz leads the Pirates with 80 strikeouts while also posting 13 doubles, 9 home runs and 25 RBIs and Connor Joe has a .263 batting average and 14 doubles as well this season.

Why the Pittsburgh Pirates will win

• The Cardinals have lost each of their last four games as favorites against NL Central opponents following a home loss.
• The Pirates have won each of their last five night games against NL Central opponents that held a losing record.
• The Pirates have covered the run line in each of their last eight night games against NL Central opponents following a road win.
• The Cardinals have failed to cover the run line in each of their last seven games as favorites against NL Central opponents.
• The Cardinals have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last four Wednesday games as favorites.
• The Cardinals have trailed after 5 innings in nine of their last 11 games as home favorites against National League opponents.

St. Louis Cardinals Recap

The St. Louis Cardinals come into this one looking to rebound after their loss in Tuesday’s opener against the Pirates, putting the Cardinals at risk of keeping their series winless streak going after splitting with the Rockies over the weekend following series losses to the Astros and Phillies the week prior.

Cardinals Struggling With Consistency

Entering Tuesday’s matchup, Nolan Arenado leads the Cardinals with 60 hits along with 10 doubles and 30 RBIs while Brendan Donovan has 27 RBIs with 15 doubles. Nolan Gorman has a team-high 14 home runs along with 32 RBIs in addition to 8 doubles while Masyn Winn has a .306 batting average and 8 stolen bases. Paul Goldschmidt also has a team-high 80 strikeouts as well this season.

Why the St. Louis Cardinals will win

• The Pirates have lost eight of their last nine road games following a win.
• The Cardinals have won seven of their last eight home games against the Pirates following a loss.
• The Cardinals have covered the run line in each of their last four home games following a loss.
• The Pirates have failed to cover the run line each of their last six Wednesday games against teams that held a losing record.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction

I’m going to take a shot on the Cardinals. I don’t love this price when the Pirates are playing the better baseball, but I think Sonny Gray is the far better starting option here and I do believe the Cardinals have the better bullpen. Part of me wonders if Tuesday’s matchup was more about the Pirates stepping it up with Paul Skenes on the mound as they have for much of the year, but the Cards are still a talented lineup that I think will start to deliver at some point. I think this is a good spot to get a W here against a pitcher in Falter that’s due for regression. Give me St. Louis.