Pittsburgh Pirates vs St Louis Cardinals Betting Preview– 8/28/18
Tuesday evening bases and a pair of teams from the National League Central will square off as the Pittsburgh Pirates duke it out with the St Louis Cardinals. This contest will take place at Busch Stadium and is game one of a three-game set. The Cardinals have taken seven of the 13 meetings between these teams this year.
Lines: Pittsburgh +150… St Louis -160… O/U 8
Pitching Matchup
Taking the hill for the Pirates will be Ivan Nova and he has gone 7-8 with a 4.20 ERA in 24 starts on the year, including 5-3 with a 5.18 ERA in 12 starts on the road. In his career, he has gone 36-36 with a 4.65 ERA in 100 games (92 starts) on the road and 19-12 with a 4.13 ERA in 38 starts during the month of August. Against the Cardinals, he has gone 1-2 with a 4.88 ERA in five starts, including 0-2 with a 4.85 ERA in two starts here at Busch Stadium.
Getting the nod for the Cardinals will be Jack Flaherty and he has gone 7-6 with a 2.97 ERA in 21 starts on the year, including 3-3 with a 3.10 ERA in nine starts here at home. In his career, he has gone 3-5 with a 3.62 ERA in 12 games (11 starts) here at Busch Stadium and 3-0 with a 1.08 ERA in four starts during the month of August, while against the Pirates he has gone 2-1 with a 2.86 ERA in four starts.
Game Analysis
The Pittsburgh Pirates have completely fallen out of the race for a playoff spot. They enter this game at 13.5 games out of first in the National League Central and 8.5 games out of wildcard slot. They have really been struggling of late as they have gone just 3-10 over their last 13 games and a big reason for that has been an offense that has averaged just 1.92 rpg over that stretch. That just won’t get it done. The Pitching has been solid of late as they have allowed just 2.80 rpg over their last 10 games, but the offense just hasn’t helped out. The Pirates will not look to play a little spoiler in this series as the Cards are very well in the hunt for both a division title and a wildcard slot. Ivan Nova has struggled at this venue in his career, so we shall see. The Pirates have gone just 29-33 on the road this year and have averaged 4.81 rpg and have allowed 4.81 rpg in those games.
The St Louis Cardinals are sitting at 4.5 games out of first in the Central, but they do lead in the ace for a wildcard slot. This is normally a second-half team and they have gone 19-5 over their last 24 games. They hope to stay hot in this series and will look to get f to a fast start and they have the right guy on the mound in Jack Flaherty, who is 3-0 with a 1.08 ERA over his last four starts. Still, we note that the Cardinals are 1-5 in their last 6 home games vs. a team with a losing record and 4-9 in their last 13 home games vs. a right-handed starter. St Louis has really done it with their pitching of late as they have allowed just 2.85 rpg over their last 20 games and they have to hope that pitching holds up against a struggling Pittsburgh offense. The offense has been no slouch of late as they have averaged 5.76 rpg over their last 17 games.
The Cards need this game in the worst way but the Pirates will not just roll over for them. Pittsburgh has struggled of late, but this has been a rather even series all season long. Should be a good game.
