Cardinals vs. Pirates Best Bet 5/20/22

St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates

Date: Friday, May 20th, 06:35 ET

Location: PNC Park

TV: Apple TV+

Money Line: Cardinals -145 / Pirates +122 (BAS – They let you bet on games at discounted odds!)

Total Line: 8.0

STARTING PITCHING

St. Louis: Adam Wainwright (4-3, 3.15)
Pittsburgh: Zach Thompson (2-3, 5.47)

Cardinals Projected Lineup

Brendan Donovan SS
Nolan Gorman 3B
Yadier Molina C
Dylan Carlson RF
Nolan Arenado 3B
Harrison Bader CF
Juan Yepez LF
Tommy Edman 2B
Paul Goldschmidt 1B
Adam Wainwright P

Pirates Projected Lineup

Jack Suwinski RF
Rodolfo Castro SS
Yoshi Tsutsugo 1B
Josh VanMeter 2B
Ke’Bryan Hayes 3B
Michael Perez C
Bryan Reynolds CF
Daniel Vogelbach 1B
Ben Gamel LF
Zach Thompson P

STRAIGHT UP/ OVER/UNDER / RUN LINE RECORDS

St. Louis Cardinals: 20-18-0 SU / OU 19-18-1 / Run Line W/L 21-17-0
Pittsburgh Pirates: 16-21-0 SU / OU 14-19-4 / Run Line W/L 18-19-0

The Pittsburgh Pirates host the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, May 20th at PNC Park. The first pitch in this matchup is scheduled for 06:35 ET. The MLB Odds Board places St. Louis as the favorite (-145), with an OU line set at 8.0.

Recent Form

The Cardinals will look to rebound from a close, 7-6 loss to the NY Mets. In the loss, St. Louis’s pitchers gave up 7 runs on 11 hits. The Cardinals ended the game with 13 hits of their own, leading to 6 runs. The loss came as St. Louis was the betting underdog, getting 166.0 on the moneyline. Together, the Cardinals and NY Mets combined to surpass the over-under betting line set at 7.5 runs. This result is part of a larger trend, as St. Louis has the over has hit in more than half of their games (19-18-1).

In their last 5 games, the Cardinals are below .500, at 2-3. This mark has an even scoring differential. However, the team’s offense isn’t to blame, as they are averaging 6.0 runs per game compared to their season average at 4.53. So far, St. Louis has won over half of their 12 series played, going 6-3-3.

In their last game, the Pirates picked up a close win over the Cubs by a score of 3-2. In the win, the pitching staff allowed just 2 runs on hits 5 hits. The Pirates’ offense ended the game with just 3 runs on 9 hits. Despite being the underdogs, getting 140.0 on the moneyline, the Pirates still picked up the win. So far, the team has gone into 29 games as the underdog, still finding the win column at a rate of 41.0%. Combined, the Pirates and the Cubs’ run total fell below the OU line of 8.0 runs. Now, Pittsburgh had an over-under record of 14-19-4.

In their last 5 games, the Pirates have put together a record of 3-2. Pittsburgh has managed to play above .500 baseball, despite their last 5-scoring margin sitting at -12. Pittsburgh has played above .500 baseball, despite averaging just 1.4 runs in their last 5 games. This is a drop in production compared to their season average of 3.30. Pittsburgh has a below .500 series record of just 3-6-3.

Pitching Matchup

Adam Wainwright gets the start for the Cardinals, with an overall record of 4-3. To date, Wainwright has an ERA of 3.15 while lasting an average of 5.71 innings per appearance. So far, Wainwright has a batting average allowed of 0.231. So far, Wainwright has managed to keep the ball in the ballpark, allowing just 0.67 home runs per 9 innings. In terms of strikeouts, Adam Wainwright has a strong strikeout percentage of 20.0%, including a per game average of 4.71. Command has been a problem for Wainwright, as he is giving up 3.38 walks per outing.

Pittsburgh will roll with Zach Thompson (2-3) as their starter. To date, Thompson has an ERA of 5.47 while lasting an average of 3.73 innings per appearance. Opposing teams have hit the ball well against the right-hander, with a batting average of 0.25. Home runs have been an issue for Thompson, as he is allowing an average of 1.38 per 9 innings pitched. Thompson has accumulated a strikeout percentage of 18.0% and a per-game average of 3.14. For the season, he has struggled with command averaging 4.44 walks per outing.

St. Louis vs Pittsburgh History

For the season, St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates will be playing their 3rd game of the season. So far, St. Louis is leading the season series, 2-1. Through 3rd games, the series’ over-under record is 2-0, with the average run total sitting at 8.68 runs per game. In these matchups, the average scoring differential sits at 6.0 runs. Going back to last year, St. Louis won the season series, 12 games to 7. In these 19 meetings, the two teams combined for an over-under record of 7-9. Last year, the Cardinals and Pirates averaged 8.68 runs per game. On average, the winning team won by a margin of 3.63 runs per contest.

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Betting Trends

• St. Louis is 11-2 SU in its last 13 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
• St. Louis is 13-6 ATS in its last 19 games on the road
• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh’s last 5 games
• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh’s last 5 games at home

St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction

In this NL Central showdown between St. Louis and Pittsburgh, I recommend grabbing the Cardinals on the moneyline. St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright is having another strong season and has already pitched 6 shutout innings vs the Pirates. Look for Wainwright to have another good outing against Pittsburgh.

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