The Pittsburgh Pirates have been listed as the road underdogs at the sportsbooks for Thursday as they open up their NLDS with a game against the Cardinals in St. Louis.
The Pirates have only gone 3-7 on the MLB betting lines at the sportsbooks for their supporters over their last 10 games against the Cardinals. The OVER/UNDER went 6-3-1 for totals bettors over those 10 contests.
For the Cardinals, Adam Wainwright gets the ball, charged with keeping the Pirates hitters off the base paths. He'll face AJ Burnett, 10-11 on the year.
View Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Odds and Stats.
Those going with the Cardinals in this one found them listed as moneyline favorites of -140 at Sportsbook for Thursday's contest. The total was hovering near 6.5 at Sportsbook.
According to new MLB Power Rankings here, it's the No. 2-ranked Cardinals and the No. 11-rated Pirates in this matchup.
In their last action, Pittsburgh was a 6-2 Sportsbook at home against the Reds. Bettors on Pittsburgh at -134 on the moneyline collected their winnings from that game, while the total score (8) sent OVER bettors home happy as well. Pittsburgh got the job done in their last match in a 6-2 victory over Cincinnati on Tuesday at PNC Park behind starter Francisco Liriano.
St. Louis won its last outing, a 4-0 result against the Cubs on September 29. Bettors who backed the Cardinals at -150 on the moneyline won on the day, and the total score (4) sent UNDER bettors to the payout window. St. Louis threw a shutout at Chicago in their last outing, using a shutdown performance by Joe Kelly to defeat Chicago 4-0 on Sunday.
How They Match Up:
Rating these teams in several key categories is important for handicappers and St. Louis has baseball's No. 3-rated offensive output, at 9.22 hits per game. The Pirates average 8.34 hits per game, good for No. 22 on the list.
Defensively, Pittsburgh features the No. 6-rated defense on the road, allowing 3.83 runs per game. St. Louis, meanwhile, comes in at No. 6 at home, scoring 4.67 runs per game.
A few Pirates at Cardinals trends to consider:
Pittsburgh is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
St. Louis is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Next up:
Pittsburgh at St. Louis, Friday, October 4th
