The St. Louis Cardinals look to widen the gap in the NL Central race while the Pirates try to inch closer when the teams meet on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. The Cards won five of the first six in Busch Stadium between the teams this season and own MLB’s best overall and home record while being the most profitable team in the majors.
ODDS ANALYSIS
The Pirates own the second-best record in the National League behind their NL Central rival and weekend opponent St. Louis Cardinals, but it’s their play against the bottom-feeding Milwaukee Brewers that has the Bucs scratching their heads. Looking to enter a critical weekend series against the Cards with some momentum, the Bucs instead got punched in the gut, losing 5-3 Thursday at Miller Park as the Brewers completed their second consecutive three-game sweep of the Pirates. Pittsburgh dropped seven of nine meetings at the Brewers home yard this season, exactly the same number that separates them from the Cardinals in the standings.
Now history and time are both against the Bucs as they try to chase down St. Louis. The Pirates dropped four straight entering the weekend and badly need a series win, something they haven’t done in St. Louis since April 2013. The Pirates are 4-18 at Busch Stadium since then, including a 1-5 mark this season.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Gerrit Cole (15-8, 2.64 ERA) has been looking forward to this start since leaving his last outing after allowing five runs in four innings in a loss to the Brewers. Cole was off from the outset, allowing four runs after facing just seven batters. He lacked the movement on his pitches we’re used to seeing, though his velocity was fine.
Cole is 0-3 with a 4.34 ERA in three Busch Stadium starts, including one this season when he surrendered three earned runs on seven hits over 5.1 frames on Aug. 12.
John Lackey (11-8, 2.87 ERA) left with a no-decision after allowing two runs – one earned – over six innings in the Cards win over Washington on Monday. He continues to be the workhouse of the rotation with 15 consecutive starts of at least six innings. He’s allowed more than three earned in just one of those games.
Lackey allowed one run in each of his two season starts against the Bucs, posting a 1.42 ERA over 12.2 innings. He failed to record a decision.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“Our focus needs to be on playing better. We got outpitched, outhit and out defended in three straight games.” – Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle after his team was swept by the Brewers.
LIVE BETTING or SITUATIONAL BETTING
Baseball can be a strange game, just ask the Pittsburgh Pirates about that. The Bucs felt the broom whiskers on their backside when they left Miller Park after yet another defeat there. They now take on St. Louis, finishing the first of two September NL Central showdowns with the Cards. Oddly, the Bucs are just 21-32 overall against their division brethren this season and are 7-21 on the road. This for a team that still has the second-best record in the league and the third-best in baseball. Since the start of the 2013 season, the Bucs have gone 7-21 in Busch Stadium, including the 2013 NL Division Series. Their wins have been by an average of 5.5 runs. In the same stretch, however, they are 0-10 in one run games.
PROP TALK
Rookie Stephen Piscotty has proven he belongs in the big leagues, leaving the Cards in a pickle when some of the disabled list personnel are ready to return. A roster spot isn’t the problem with expansion to 40 players on Sept. 1, rather playing time. Piscotty extended his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games with a pair of hits Thursday and is hitting .419 with 11 RBIs during the run, which included a 4 for 4 night last Saturday against the Giants. Piscotty is batting .333 with four hits in 12 at-bats over three games against the Cards this season.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Clint Hurdle can tell his troops that past performance doesn’t need to predict future performance, but the Cards are in the heads of the Buccos after some serious ownage the past few seasons. The Pirates can beat St. Louis, they’ve proven that at home this season, but the Cardinal’s Busch Stadium mystique just hovers above them. What the Cardinals have done to Pittsburgh is hard to fathom. The coin has to flip at some point – Pittsburgh is just too good to keep taking this abuse. Cole figures it out after his lost outing in Milwaukee and is able to silence the Cards’ bat. Pittsburgh will squeak out a close win with a late run and make the NL Central race a little tighter down the stretch.
Pittsburgh 3, St. Louis 2
The MLB odds for this game will be available first at BookMaker Sportsbook. Gamble on the game between every half inning with BookMaker’s live betting feature. Along with an adjusted in-game moneyline, you can wager on what will happen in the next at-bat or how many runs will be scored in the next inning. Live betting is the most exciting way to play!
Load your betting bankroll from your smartphone with BookMaker’s new cashier feature! Depositing and withdrawing funds from your account has never been easier. BookMaker's live betting platform means you always have access to odds and lines to every sporting event. Click here and start wagering today! First pitch for the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals is scheduled for Sunday, September 6, 2015, at 8:05 p.m. ET at Busch Stadium. The matchup can be seen live on ESPN.
