The St. Louis Cardinals (22-23) and Pittsburgh Pirates (14-34) open a five-game series on Thursday night. First pitch will be at 7:05 p.m. ET. We analyze the Cardinals-Pirates betting odds and lines, with MLB picks and best bets.
Cardinals at Pirates: Projected starting pitchers
RHP Dakota Hudson vs. LHP Steven Brault
Hudson has started the year 3-2 with a 2.92 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 37 innings (7 starts).
- Hudson no-hit the Reds through 5.2 innings his last time out and wound up giving up just one run on one hit in six innings.
- He has only allowed more than three runs once this season and has won his last three starts.
Brault is 0-3 with a 5.06 ERA in eight starts this season.
- Brault has only pitched at least five innings once this season, which came on Aug. 19.
- He has a 7.27 ERA in his last two starts, though he does have 10 strikeouts in those 8.2 innings.
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Cardinals at Pirates: Key injuries
Get the latest injury news here.
Cardinals
- OF Austin Dean (elbow) out
- RP Giovanny Gallegos (groin) out
- OF Dexter Fowler (personal) out
- 2B Kolten Wong (upper body) questionable
Pirates
- RP Kyle Crick (back) out
- RP Keone Kela (forearm) out
Cardinals at Pirates: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 12:10 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Cardinals 6, Pirates 2
Money line (ML)
Against a team that has lost eight games in a row, it comes as no surprise that the Cardinals are favored in this one. But the money line isn’t overwhelmingly lopsided, as there’s still some upside that comes with taking St. Louis.
The money line sits at -162 for the Cardinals, which is a very intriguing bet. With Hudson on the mound, this should be a win for St. Louis. Take the CARDINALS (-162) to win outright.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Cardinals to win returns a profit of $6.17.
Run line/Against the spread (ATS)
The Cardinals are -1.5 (-106) in this one, which brings even greater reward into the equation if they can beat the Pirates by at least two runs – something teams have done in six of Pittsburgh’s last eight games. The Cardinals shouldn’t have much trouble handling the Pirates on Thursday night, either.
Take the CARDINALS to win by at least two runs tonight, continuing the Pirates’ abysmal stretch of games.
Over/Under (O/U)
The Over/Under is 8.5 runs on Thursday night, right in the middle of the pack for the slate of games today. The total has gone under in five of the Cardinals’ last seven road games, as well as five of Pittsburgh’s last six at home.
While the Cardinals could put up a good number of runs against Brault, scoring against Hudson could prove challenging for the Pirates. He has allowed more than three runs just once this year. Take the UNDER (-110).
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