Pittsburgh Pirates (3-7) vs St. Louis Cardinals (4-5)
Game Info: Monday, April 7, 2025 at 6:40 pm (PNC Park)
The Line: Betting Odds: Pittsburgh Pirates +105 / St. Louis Cardinals -125 — Over/Under: 8
The St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates meet Monday in MLB action from PNC Park. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates prediction.
Starting Pitching Matchup
The St. Louis Cardinals will send out Matthew Liberatore for the start here and Liberatore is 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA and 4 strikeouts so far this season. In his career, Liberatore is 1-2 with a 7.13 ERA and 14 strikeouts in four career starts against Pittsburgh. Carmen Mlodzinski will get the start for the Pirates and is 0-1 with a 9.82 ERA and 4 strikeouts this season. This will be Mlodzinski’s first career start against the Cardinals.
St. Louis Cardinals Recap
The St. Louis Cardinals will be out to bounce back after being swept by the Boston Red Sox after a 5-4 loss in the first leg of Sunday’s doubleheader before an 18-7 beatdown loss in Sunday’s nightcap to fall to 4-5 on the year. After this series, the Cardinals will head home for a weekend set against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Cardinals Lose Three Straight & Five Of Last Six
Lars Nootbaar leads the Cardinals with 13 hits including a pair of home runs and 6 RBIs while Brendan Donovan has 12 hits with 2 doubles, 2 home runs and 8 RBIs and Nolan Arenado has 12 hits with a team-high 3 doubles. Ivan Herrera has 8 hits with 2 doubles, a team-high 4 home runs and 11 RBIs while Pedro Pages also has 3 doubles and Willson Contreras has the unfortunate luck of leading the Cardinals with 16 strikeouts so far this season.
Why the St. Louis Cardinals will win
- The Pirates have lost each of their last six games against the Cardinals following a win.
- The Cardinals have won seven of their last eight night games against the Pirates following a road loss.
- The Pirates have failed to cover the run line in each of their last six games as underdogs against NL Central opponents following a win.
- The Cardinals have covered the run line in seven of their last eight night games against teams that held a losing record.
St. Louis Cardinals Player Prop Facts
- Brendan Donovan has hit a home run in each of the Cardinals’ last two road games against opponents that held a losing record.
- Masyn Winn has recorded a Double in each of the Cardinals’ last four games as road favorites against NL opponents.
- Masyn Winn has scored at least one run in each of his last eight road appearances.
- Nolan Arenado has recorded at least one Single in each of the Cardinals’ last eight night games.
- Nolan Arenado has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 15 appearances.
- Nolan Gorman has recorded at least one RBI in each of his last four appearances with the Cardinals as road favorites against NL opponents.
- Victor Scott II ranks T6th in the league in Steals (4) this season.
Pittsburgh Pirates Recap
The Pittsburgh Pirates will be out to build some steam after salvaging a 5-4 extra innings win over the New York Yankees in Sunday’s series finale to improve to 3-7 on the year. After this series, the Pirates will head on the road for a division set with the Cincinnati Reds.
Pirates Looking For First Series Opening Win Of The Year
Isiah Kiner-Falefa has a team-high 9 hits and a .321 batting average along with 4 stolen bases while Oneil Cruz has a team-high 2 home runs, 4 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Ke’Bryan Hayes has added 8 hits with a double, a triple, a home run and 4 RBIS while Bryan Reynolds has 7 hits with a double, a home run and 3 RBIs but also has a team-high 13 strikeouts as well this season. Adam Frazier has also chipped in 4 RBIs of his own this season.
Why the Pittsburgh Pirates will win
- The Cardinals have lost each of their last five games as favorites against National League opponents following a road loss.
- The Pirates have won five of their last seven games as home underdogs against the Cardinals.
- The Pirates have covered the run line in each of their last 12 games as underdogs after going to extra innings.
- The Cardinals have failed to cover the run line in 15 of their last 16 games as road favorites against NL Central opponents.
Pittsburgh Pirates Player Prop Facts
- Andrew McCutchen has hit a home run in two of his last three appearances at PNC Park against NL opponents that held a losing record.
- Isiah Kiner-Falefa has recorded at least one Double in three of the Pirates’ last four games against the Cardinals.
- Oneil Cruz has recorded an RBI in each of his last four appearances in night games against NL teams that held a losing record.
- Adam Frazier has recorded at least one Single in each of his last six appearances with the Pirates as home underdogs against NL opponents.
- Bryan Reynolds has scored a run in each of his last five appearances with the Pirates as home underdogs against the Cardinals.
- Bryan Reynolds has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 12 appearances with the Pirates as underdogs against the Cardinals.
- Oneil Cruz ranks 1st in the league in Steals (7) this season.
Total Runs Facts
- Seven of the Cardinals’ last eight games against NL Central opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Seven of the last eight games between the Cardinals and Pirates have gone UNDER the total runs line.
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction
I’m on the over in this game. I’ll give the Pirates some credit, they’ve been decent offensively and have simply ended up on the wrong side of some tough losses early on but at least the runs are there. On the other side, St. Louis has scored 4+ runs in all of their games so far this season and while there may be some depleted arms after their double dip on Sunday, I still think we have enough in the tank here to get us up and over this total with a subpar starting pitching matchup. Give me the over here.