The St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates will battle for a berth in the NLCS on Wednesday night as the two teams meet in Game 5 of their NLDS at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals staved off elimination on Monday with a slim 2-1 win over the Pirates in Game 4 of the best-of-five series. Matt Holliday homered and drove in two runs for the Cards that day; Pedro Alvarez homered for the Pirates.
St. Louis hands the ball to starter Adam Wainwright in this one and he'll try to improve on his 20-9 mark on the year. Pittsburgh counters with Gerrit Cole, who will try to quiet the fans and the Cardinals bats at the same time.
View Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Odds and Stats.
The Pirates were listed as 135 underdogs on the baseball moneyline at many online sportsbooks, including Sportsbook. The total was set at 6.5 before betting started earlier on Wednesday over at Sportsbook.
The Odds Shark MLB Power Rankings have the Cardinals at No. 2 and the Pirates at No. 11 heading into this contest.
How They Match Up:
The game also pits St. Louis's No. 3-rated offense, averaging 4.81 runs per game, against a Pirates defense that ranks No. 2 at 3.56 in runs allowed per game. The Cardinals have averaged 9.14 hits per game so far, more than Pirates batters have averaged on the year (8.28 hits per game).
Pittsburgh brings the No. 2-rated defense to this matchup, facing the Cardinals's No. 5-ranked defense.
A few Pirates at Cardinals trends to consider:
Pittsburgh is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games on the road
Pittsburgh is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games when playing St. Louis
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 5 games when playing St. Louis
Pittsburgh is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
St. Louis is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games at home
St. Louis is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 4 of St. Louis's last 5 games when playing Pittsburgh
St. Louis is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Pittsburgh
