Game Information
St. Louis Cardinals (47-38) at Pittsburgh Pirates (35-50)
Time: 5:40pm CT Monday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Probable pitchers: Erick Fedde (3-7, 4.11 ERA) vs Andrew Heaney (3-7, 4.48 ERA)
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Pirates -113, Cardinals -108
Total: 9 (over -104, under -117)
Cards, Pirates Begin Series
Two red-hot teams get together tonight when the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates battle in the first of a three-game set at PNC Park.
The Cards have won three in a row and are 10-3 over their last 13 games. Meanwhile, the Buccos are coming off a three-game sweep of the Mets where they outscored New York 30-4.
Birds Turn To Fedde
Erick Fedde will be looking for a big bounceback tonight when he heads to the hill. The right-hander was crushed by the Cubs in his last start, giving up 7 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks in just 3.2 innings.
Fedde did have an outstanding start against the Pirates in his last trip to PNC Park, pitching 6 no-hit innings back on April 9th. He has also been good on the road this season with a 3.00 ERA in 9 starts away from Busch Stadium.
Pirates Running Hot
The Pirates’ offense is in a really good stretch right now extending past the resounding sweep of the Mets. Over the last 10 games, Pittsburgh is 6-4 while averaging 6.0 runs per game.
The Pirates may need to keep swinging their hot bats tonight because their starting pitcher Andrew Heaney is in a rough patch. Over his last two starts, Heaney has been pounded for 14 runs and 15 hits in just 8 innings of work.
My Picks
Both Fedde and Heaney are extremely volatile and hard to predict, so I’m going to turn to the player prop market tonight.
One thing that has been consistent about Fedde is that he gives up a lot of stolen bases. He has allowed 16 steals this season, which is tied with Sandy Alcantara for the most in MLB. And teams have figured this out, as 10 of the stolen bases have come in Fedde’s last 5 starts.
I’m going to put a half-unit each on a couple Pirates players to give me a shot at a profit, and I’ve chosen Oneil Cruz and Adam Frazier. Cruz leads the National League with 27 stolen bases, and while Frazier has only 7 steals, 3 of them have come in the last 10 games.
Picks: Half-unit on each play - Oneil Cruz over 0.5 stolen bases at +270 on DraftKings AND Adam Frazier over 0.5 stolen bases at +550 on DraftKings
Eric Sontag hosts Domesticated Gamblers every Friday on the STL Sports Central 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