Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction 8/26/2025 Today’s MLB Picks

In this article, we will formulate a Pirates vs Cardinals Prediction for this MLB game on Tuesday, August 26th at the Busch Stadium in the second game of this series, with the Cardinals having the 1-0 lead. Let’s take a look at the prediction for this MLB matchup.

Saint Louis Cardinals Preview

The Saint Louis Cardinals have a 65-67 record this season and are sitting on the 4th place of the NL Central. The Cardinals have a 31-35 home record and are 67-57 in over/under They are coming off a 7-6 home victory over the Pirates, which ended their two-game losing streak. Over is 7-0-2 in their last 9 games and are playing the Athletics and the Reds next.

The Cardinals have a .249 batting average this season, .317 OBP and .385 Slugging percentage. Saint Louis’ pitching staff has a 4.31 ERA and 1.31 WHIP. Alec Burleson leads the Cardinals with 122 hits, and he is the team’s best hitter with a .291 batting average. Wilson Contreras leads the team in RBI, with 72, adding a team-high 19 home runs.

Andre Pallante (R) is the projected starting pitcher for the Cardinals, and he has a 6-11 record, 5.17 ERA and 1.41 WHIP.

Pittsburgh Pirates Preview

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a 57-75 record this season and are sitting on the last place of the NL Central. They have a 18-45 road record, and are 54-73 in over/under. They are coming off a 6-7 road defeat by the Cardinals, which ended their four-game winning streak. They are playing the Red Sox and the Dodgers next.

The Pirates have a .234 batting average this season, .306 OBP and .352 slugging percentage. Pittsburgh’s pitching staff has a 3.96 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. Bryan Reynolds leads the Pirates with 120 hits, and a team-high 65 RBI. He is also the team’s best hitter with a .246 batting average, while Oneil Cruz leads the team in home runs, with 18.

Mitch Keller (R) is the projected starting pitcher for the Pirates, and he has a 5-12 record, 4.34 ERA and 1.31 WHIP.

Why the St. Louis Cardinals will win

• The home team has won each of the last eight games between the Pirates and Cardinals.
• The Pirates have lost each of their last seven road games against NL Central opponents that held a losing record.
• The Pirates have failed to cover the run line in eight of their last nine games at Busch Stadium against teams that held a losing record.
• The Cardinals have covered the run line in eight of their last nine games against the Pirates following a home win.
• The Cardinals have led after 5 innings in each of their last four games as home favorites against NL Central opponents.
• The Cardinals have led after 3 innings in three of their last four games as home favorites against NL Central opponents.

Why the Pittsburgh Pirates will win

• The Cardinals have lost seven of their last eight games as favorites following a win.
• The Pirates have won four of their last five games.
• The Cardinals have failed to cover the run line in each of their last 11 games as favorites following a home win.
• The Pirates have covered the run line in seven of their last eight games.
• The Pirates have led after 5 innings in eight of their last 10 games against National League opponents that held a losing record.
• The Pirates have won the first inning in each of their last four road games against National League opponents that held a losing record.
• The Pirates have led after 3 innings in each of their last five road games against National League opponents that held a losing record.

Total Runs Facts

• Eight of the Cardinals’ last nine games after playing the previous day have gone OVER the total runs line.
• Each of the Pirates’ last three night games as underdogs have gone OVER the total runs line.
• The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in seven of the Cardinals’ last eight night games.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in 12 of the Pirates’ last 14 games at Busch Stadium.

Matchup/League Facts

• The Cardinals rank 30th in the league for triples this season (5).
• The Cardinals rank 29th in the league for strikeouts this season (970).
• The Pirates rank 30th in the league for runs scored this season (473).
• The Pirates rank 30th in the league for home runs this season (96).

Pirates vs Cardinals Prediction

The Pirates are 3-1 in their last 4 head-to-head meetings against the Cardinals, but the Cardinals have won their last four home meetings against the Pirates. Over is 6-0 in their last 6 meetings.

In this Pirates vs Cardinals Prediction, the Cardinals are coming as -130 home favorites. This one is pretty simple. We have two struggling pitchers that have a combined 9.51 ERA, and their home/away splits are even worse. They are both coming into this matchup in horrendous form, as Pallante has 15 earned runs in 11.3 innings pitched across his last three starts, while Keller has a 9.45 ERA across his last five starts. Both teams also average 8.2 runs per game against right-handed pitching, and yesterday’s game had 13 total runs. With the total set at 8, which gives us push protection, I will go over this number easily.