Friday night baseball and we will see the Pittsburgh Pirates take on the St Louis Cardinals in game 1 of their 3 game series from Busch Stadium in St Louis, Missouri. First pitch is scheduled for an 8:15 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised on MLB Network.
Current Odds
Pittsburgh -104
St Louis -106
Over/ Under: 7 O -125
Analysis: The Pittsburgh Pirates have struggled out the gate as they come into this game with a 9-14 mark, including a 3-11 mark in their last 14 games. On offense it has been feast of famine for this team as they come in ranked 4th in the Majors in HR's (28), but they are just 20th in scoring (3.91 rpg) and 28th in hitting (.229). Pedro Alvarez is tied for the team lead in homers with Neil Walker, at 6, but he is hitting only .176 for the year so far. Andrew McCutchen has been solid, hitting .299 with 4 HR's and 13 RBIs in the early going. Pitching has been decent for this team, as they rank 14th in ERA (3.74) and 10th in WHIP (1.26). Getting the ball for the Pirates tonight is Gerrit Cole, who comes in with a 2-1 mark and a 3.67 ERA on the year. Cole has faced the cards once in his career (this year) and he allowed 2 ER's in 7 innings of work in that game.
For the Cardinals, they are off to a mediocre 12-11 start and they are 4-2 at home on the year. They return off a long road trip, in which they went just 3-6 in their last 9 games of the trip. Offense has been an issue for this team of late as they come in scoring just 2.8 rpg in their last 10 games and 1.6 rpg in their last 5 games. Overall the Cardinals are now 28th in scoring (3.48 rpg), 21st in hitting (.243) and 29th in homers (12). The pitching, though, has been very good for this team, as they come in ranked 5th in ERA (2.87) and 4th in WHIP (1.16). Shelby Miller will toe the rubber for the Cards tonight and he comes in with a 1-2 mark and a 3.57 ERA on the road, He has struggled with the Pirates, going 0-5 with a 5.93 ERA in 5 career starts vs them.
Pick: I will be looking at the Over in this one. The St Louis offense struggled mightily on the road, but now they are back home, where they have scored 5.17 rpg on the year. this is also a better offense when the face a right-handed pitcher and now that they have seen Gerrit Cole they should have a better showing the first meeting. At home the cards have hit righties at a .304 clip and have scored 5.98 runs per 9 off of them at home for the year. The Pirate offense has not been all that good this year, but they have scored 3.89 rpg on the year and Shelby Miller has struggled with this team, posting a 5.93 ERA in 5 career starts vs them. Pirate road games have averaged 9 rpg, while St Louis home games have put up 9.5 rpg. This looks like a good spot for these offenses to wake up.
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Handicapping Tips: Baseball Correlations
Steve Fezzik from Pregame.com gives some handicapping tips for betting runlines and correlated parlays in major league baseball.