Pirates vs. Cardinals Betting Odds, Pitching Matchup – July 3, 2024

Coming off of a 1-2 series loss to the Braves, the Pittsburgh Pirates (40-43) are -126 favorites to pick up the win in Game 1 of a two-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals (43-40). The series begins at PNC Park, starting on Wednesday at 6:40 PM ET on BSMW. Pittsburgh’s Jared Jones gets the start, and he’ll go against St. Louis’ Miles Mikolas.

Here is our preview for this contest, and uncover all of our MLB picks, too!

Pirates vs. Cardinals Betting Lines

• Favorite: Pirates (-126)
• Underdog: Cardinals (+106)
• Over/under: 8

Pirates vs. Cardinals Betting Insights

• The Pirates have been victorious in 15, or 46.9%, of the 32 contests they have been chosen as favorites in this season.
• This year Pittsburgh has won 10 of 22 games when listed as at least -126 on the moneyline.
• The Pirates have an implied victory probability of 55.8% according to the moneyline set for this matchup.
• The Cardinals have a 20-21 record in games they were the underdog on the moneyline (winning 48.8% of those games).
• St. Louis has a record of 9-17 when it has played as a moneyline underdog with odds of +106 or longer (34.6%).
• Based on this game’s moneyline, the Cardinals’ implied win probability is 48.5%.

Pirates vs. Cardinals Hitting Leaders

• Bryan Reynolds leads Pittsburgh in home runs with 13, runs batted in with 46 and his batting average of .275 is also best on his team.
• Reynolds ranks 37th in baseball in home runs, and 32nd in RBI.
• Connor Joe has 61 hits and an OBP of .329 to go with a slugging percentage of .407 this season.
• Brendan Donovan has racked up a team-high 41 runs batted in.
• Donovan ranks 116th in home runs and 50th in RBI among all batters in the majors.
• Alec Burleson is batting .278 with 11 doubles, 12 home runs and 11 walks.

Pirates vs. Cardinals Pitching Rankings

• The Pirates have an 8.5 K/9 this season as a pitching staff, which ranks 16th in the majors.
• Pirates pitchers have a combined ERA of 3.98 this year, which ranks 14th in MLB.
• The Pirates have a combined WHIP of 1.279 as a pitching staff, which ranks 17th in MLB.
• The Cardinals pitching staff ranks 20th in MLB with a collective 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
• St. Louis’ 3.90 team ERA ranks 12th across all MLB pitching staffs.
• The Cardinals average MLB’s 14th-ranked WHIP (1.256).