Game Information
St. Louis Cardinals (4-5) at Pittsburgh Pirates (3-7)
Time: 5:40pm CT Monday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Probable pitchers: Matthew Liberatore (0-0, 4.50 ERA) vs Carmen Mlodzinski (0-1, 9.82 ERA)
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Cardinals -125, Pirates +105
Total: 8 (over -118, under -102)
Slumping Cardinals Head To Pittsburgh
The St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates open a three-game series tonight at PNC Park.
The Redbirds were swept in Boston over the weekend and are now losers of five of their last six games. The offense hasn’t been the issue for the Cardinals, as they set a National League record last night with their ninth consecutive game to open the season with at least 10 hits. They rank 1st in MLB in batting average, 1st in OBP, and 2nd in OPS.
Cards Pitching Struggling
The Cardinals have a losing record because they are allowing 6.7 runs per game this season, which ranks dead last in baseball. The starting pitching ERA is 6.44 (28th in MLB), and the bullpen ERA is 5.54 (24th in MLB). Hopefully the pitching staff can have better success against the Pirates, who rank second-worst in the National League with 3.2 runs scored per game.
Matthew Liberatore gets the ball for the Cards tonight after putting up a quality start in his season debut. He went 6 innings against the Angels and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits with 0 walks and 4 strikeouts.
Pirates Off To Rough Start
The Pirates will be aiming for their first series win of the season. They avoided a sweep with a 5-4 win over the Yankees yesterday. The Buccos have also dropped series against the Marlins and Rays to start the year.
Carmen Mlodzinski will be on the mound for the Pirates after giving up 4 runs in 3.2 innings in his first start of the season. He’s made 7 relief appearances against the Cards in his career and has dominated to the tune of 8 innings, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks, and 12 strikeouts.
My Lean
The Cardinals better win this one because Paul Skenes awaits them tomorrow. But Liberatore is not in my circle of trust yet, so I’m having a hard time getting myself to bet money on him.
I think a better angle for this game is the over. The Cards’ offense has been about as consistent as you could ask for through nine games, and their bullpen was heavily used in yesterday’s doubleheader. And as poor as the Pirates’ offense has been overall this season, they have still scored 4 or more runs in 7 of their 10 games. If they hit that mark tonight (which I think is more likely than not), we should get an over in this one.
Lean: Over 8 at -118 on DraftKings
Eric Sontag hosts Domesticated Gamblers every Friday on the Sports Hub STL YouTube channel. Follow him on X @GamblingDads, and click here for his daily picks on all of our St. Louis area sports teams. Picks = betting the game - minus odds betting to win 1 unit, plus odds risking 1 unit. Leans = no strong opinion, not betting the game. Disclaimer