Pirates vs. Diamondbacks Pick
Will the Arizona Diamondbacks bounce back from Saturday’s loss and pick up a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates when the two close out their series today at 4:10PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Diamondbacks are favored at home today, as they are getting odds of -140 to win, while the Pirates are getting a money line of +130 to prevail. The over/under total for the game is listed at 9 runs.
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Today’s pitching matchup has Ivan Nova (3-3, 2.23 ERA) on the mound to face Robbie Ray (2-3, 4.14) of the Diamondbacks. Nova has been one of the few bright spots for the Pirates this season. He has went at least 6 innings in all seven starts this year and has two complete games. He has just three walks with 29 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.95. Ray has been shaky over the past few weeks, allowing 15 runs over his last four starts. He has 57 strikeouts over 41.1 innings this year, but also has 23 walks. His WHIP is 1.35.
The Diamondbacks took the first two games of the series, but Pittsburgh answered with a 4-3 win on Saturday night. The Pirates are now 15-22 overall and 7-15 on the road while Arizona is 21-17 overall and 15-7 at home.
Arizona had a desirable pitching matchup on Saturday, but struggled to get to Trevor Williams. The Pittsburgh pitcher went five innings and allowed just one run to get the win and drop his ERA to 6.41. Taijuan Walker lasted six innings, but allowed three runs and eight hits to take his third loss of the season. Josh Harrison had a pair of hits to lead the Pirates in the win while Nick Ahmed had two hits and drove in two runs for Arizona.
Bet on Pirates vs. Diamondbacks
Arizona had a disappointing effort on Saturday against a poor pitcher. I think the bats will rebound today. Nova has been solid, but he’s not one to get much run support. Ray has a number of strikeouts and should pile those up quickly against this Pittsburgh order. Once the Pirates have to pull Nova, Arizona can do its real damage and run away with the game.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS -140