Pittsburgh Pirates (2-7) vs New York Yankees (6-2)
Game Info: Sunday, April 6, 2025 at 1:35 pm (PNC Park)
The Line: Betting Odds: Pittsburgh Pirates +130 / New York Yankees -155 — Over/Under: 9
The New York Yankees and the Pittsburgh Pirates meet Sunday in MLB action from PNC Park. This will be the final installment in a three-game weekend series. Here’s a Yankees vs Pirates prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Yankees vs Pirates pick. We will examine:
The New York Yankees recent form and player performance
The Pittsburgh Pirates recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the New York Yankees
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Pittsburgh Pirates
Recent betting trends in games played between the Yankees and Pirates
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Yankees vs Pirates game
New York Yankees Betting Preview
New York looked great in their opening set this year versus the Milwaukee Brewers. The Yankees had a nice offensive effort in those three, taking the sweep with wins 4-2, 20-9 and 12-3. New York lost their next pair to the Arizona Diamondbacks but stopped the sweep with a 9-7 win on Thursday. In Friday’s opener versus the Pirates, the Yankees kept it going with a 9-4 victory to kick off the series. Oswaldo Cabrera had a nice day in the win with four RBI, three hits and a walk.
On Saturday in game two, the Yankees had another big offensive day, bagging 14 team hits and six runs in the fifth inning alone on the way to a 10-4 win. Anthony Volpe posted two hits and three RBI, while Trent Grisham had two hits, two runs, four RBI and two homers. Starter Marcus Stroman finished with 4.0 innings and four earned runs.
Will Warren will take the mound for the start on Sunday. This year in his lone start Warren went 5.0 innings with two earned runs, one hit and four walks. Over his career Warren is still winless at 0-3 with a 9.11 ERA in seven games (six starts).
Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Preview
Over on the Pirates’ side, they opened the year with a four-game set versus the Miami Marlins. Pittsburgh won 4-3 in game two but lost the other trio. The Pirates dropped another series against the Rays this past week, falling 6-1 and 7-0 before a 4-2 win to stop the sweep on Wednesday. In Friday’s loss, the Pirates got a rough outing from starter Mitch Keller, who went 3.2 innings with seven earned runs on eight hits and four walks.
In the Saturday game the Pirates had a brief 4-2 lead but after the fifth inning they were pretty much cooked. Emmanuel Valdez put up two RBI, and Bailey Falter had a rough start with 4.0 innings, seven earned, seven hits and a walk.
Andrew Heaney will make the start for the Pirates on Sunday. So far this year Heaney has 5.0 innings with one earned run in a no-decision in his lone start. Over his career Heaney is 51-62 with a 4.44 ERA in 204 games (186 starts).
Why the Pittsburgh Pirates will win
- The Pirates have won three of their last four day games against the Yankees following a loss.
Why the New York Yankees will win
- The Yankees have won each of their last nine games as road favorites after playing the previous day.
- The Pirates have lost each of their last four home games against AL East opponents that held a winning record.
- The Pirates have failed to cover the run line in each of their last eight day games against American League opponents following a home loss.
- The Yankees have covered the run line in each of their last six games as favorites against NL Central opponents.
- The Pirates have trailed after 3 innings in seven of their last eight home games.
- The Pirates have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last five games at PNC Park against AL East opponents that held a winning record.
Total Runs Facts
- Seven of the Yankees’ last eight day games as favorites have gone OVER the total runs line.
- Each of the last four games between the Yankees and Pirates have gone OVER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Pirates’ last five home games.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Yankees’ last four road games against National League opponents.
Yankees vs Pirates Prediction
I’m going to take a stab on the Pirates in this one. Probably not touching it, though. Pittsburgh should at least get a decent showing from Heaney here, and if he can notch a quality outing the Pirates will be in good shape. The Pirates have had a few down games with the bats, but overall the scoring hasn’t been terrible thus far. Pittsburgh put up exactly four runs in five of their first eight outings, but only won two of those five games.
On Saturday the Pirates really only had one bad inning, credited to Falter in a tough outing. The bullpen was hit and miss the rest of the way, giving up three earned in 5.0 innings on seven hits and a walk. Needless to say, it’s going to take a big effort to slow down those Yankees bats. There’s a chance here, but it’s not a spectacular one.