Game Information
St. Louis Cardinals (64-67) vs Pittsburgh Pirates (57-74)
Time: 6:45pm CT Monday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Probable pitchers: Michael McGreevy (5-2, 4.26 ERA) vs Johan Oviedo (1-0, 4.50 ERA)
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Cardinals -143, Pirates +118
Total: 8 (over -114, under -107)
Cards Return Home
The St. Louis Cardinals will be back at Busch Stadium to host the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first of a four-game series on Monday night.
The Redbirds just completed a 3-3 road trip to Miami and Tampa Bay, while the Pirates went 5-1 on a homestand that included taking two of three against the Blue Jays and beating up on the lowly Rockies in a three-game sweep.
McGreevy Racking Up Quality Starts
Michael McGreevy will pitch the series opener, as he looks for his fourth consecutive quality start and his fifth straight outing of at least 6 innings. Over his 4 starts this month, McGreevy is 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.13 WHIP.
The Cardinals typically win when it’s McGreevy day, as they have posted a sparkling record of 11-3 when McGreevy pitches in a big league uniform.
Pirates Playing Well
The Pirates bring a four-game winning streak to St. Louis and have been playing pretty good ball for over a month now. Pittsburgh has a record of 18-13 since July 21st.
Former Cardinal Johan Oviedo will make the start for the Pirates. The right-hander was terrific in shutting down the Blue Jays this past Wednesday, pitching 5 innings of 1-run ball while allowing just 2 hits with 1 walk and 6 strikeouts.
My Pick
I think we are set up for a low-scoring game on Monday.
McGreevy has settled into his spot in the starting rotation quite nicely, and I think he’ll pitch well against a Pittsburgh team that has scored by far the fewest runs in baseball this season with 467 (3.56 runs per game).
On the other side, I watched Oviedo’s start against Toronto last week because I had money on the game. He looked electric. I wouldn’t expect Oviedo to go past 5 innings, but I don’t need him to go any further for this bet.
I like the under in the first five innings here. It also helps that the heat wave is over in St. Louis, so I don’t expect the ball to travel as well this week.
Pick: Under 4.5 in the first five innings at -110 on DraftKings (bet to -120)
Eric Sontag hosts Domesticated Gamblers every Wednesday night 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