Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction MLB Picks 9/18/24

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals meet Wednesday in MLB action from Busch Stadium. Here’s a Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals prediction. This will be the third installment in a four-game series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Pirates vs Cardinals pick. We will examine:

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ recent form and player performance

The St. Louis Cardinals’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Pittsburgh Pirates

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the St. Louis Cardinals

Recent betting trends in games played between the Pirates and Cardinals

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Pirates vs Cardinals game

Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Preview

Over the weekend the Pirates played the Kansas City Royals. Pittsburgh lost the first pair 8-3 and 5-1 before a 4-3 win in the finale. After a 4-0 loss to St. Louis in their series opener, on Tuesday the Pirates had eight hits and two errors in a 3-1 loss. Starter Bailey Falter posted 5.2 innings and two earned runs.

As a starter for Wednesday’s game, the Pirates didn’t immediately announce a name.

St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview

Over on the Cardinals’ side, they took on the Toronto Blue Jays in their weekend series. St. Louis fell in a sweep there, losing 4-3, 7-2, and 3-2. On Tuesday the Cards got a nice outing from starter Lance Lynn, who notched 6.0 innings and one earned run.

Sonny Gray will start for the Cardinals on Wednesday. This year Gray is 13-9 with a 3.75 ERA in 27 starts. Over 306 career games (297 starts) Gray is 111-94 with a 3.50 ERA.

Total Runs Facts

• Each of the Cardinals’ last six night games after playing the previous day have gone UNDER the total runs line.
• Each of the Pirates’ last four games have gone UNDER the total runs line.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Cardinals’ last 11 games as favorites against NL Central opponents.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Pirates’ last eight night games at Busch Stadium.

St. Louis Cardinals Player Prop Facts

• Sonny Gray has recorded seven or more strikeouts in each of his last four appearances against opponents that held a losing record.
• Brendan Donovan has recorded at least one hit in each of his 16 previous appearances against the Pirates at Busch Stadium.
• Willson Contreras has scored at least one run in five of his last six home appearances against NL opponents that held a losing record.
• Sonny Gray has recorded a win in three of his last four home appearances.
• Nolan Arenado has recorded an RBI in each of the Cardinals’ last four night games against opponents that held a losing record.
• Masyn Winn has recorded at least one Single in 10 of his last 11 home appearances against NL opponents.
• Brendan Donovan has recorded at least one total base in each of his 16 previous appearances against the Pirates at Busch Stadium.
• Willson Contreras has hit a home run in each of his last two appearances at Busch Stadium against NL opponents that held a losing record.

Pittsburgh Pirates Player Prop Facts

• Bryan De La Cruz has hit a home run in three of his last four appearances with his team as an underdog against the Cardinals.
• Andrew McCutchen has recorded at least one RBI in each of his last four road appearances against opponents that held a winning record.
• Bryan De La Cruz has scored a run in each of his last five appearances with his team as an underdog against the Cardinals.
• Isiah Kiner-Falefa has recorded at least one Single in eight of the Pirates’ last nine games against opponents that held a winning record.
• Bryan De La Cruz has recorded two or more total bases in each of his last five appearances against the Cardinals after playing the previous day.
• Bryan Reynolds has recorded at least one hit in 17 of his last 18 appearances against the Cardinals after playing the previous day.

Matchup/League Facts

• The St. Louis Cardinals rank 24th in the league for home runs this season (154).
• The St. Louis Cardinals rank T24th in the league for strikeouts this season (1226).
• The Pittsburgh Pirates rank 26th in the league for doubles this season (222).
• The Pittsburgh Pirates rank 26th in the league for on-base percentage this season (.302).

Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction

I’ll take a stab at the Cardinals here. Gray is doing quite well over his last three starts. In that trio, he’s 2-0 with just three earned runs combined across 19.0 total innings on nine hits and three walks. A quality start here from Gray would go a long way.

On Tuesday the Cardinals had a pretty nice pitching performance across the board as Pittsburgh couldn’t do much of anything with their eight hits. St. Louis did just enough at the plate to power out the victory but there were several goose-egg performances. I’d like to see the bats move a little better in game three.

Andrew Jett's Pick: St. Louis Cardinals -161