Cardinals vs. Pirates Saturday Prediction
After blowing a lead on Friday night, the St. Louis Cardinals will look to rebound with a victory Saturday night in Pittsburgh. With one of the their top prospects on the hill, will the Cardinals beat the Pirates at 7:05 p.m. ET?
Game Snapshot & Odds
907 St. Louis Cardinals (-130) at 908 Pittsburgh Pirates (+110); 8 runs
Saturday, April 28, 2018
7:05 p.m. ET, PNC Park
TV: STL (FSMW); PIT (ATTP)
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Public Betting Trends
Oddsmakers from online sportsbook YouWager currently list the Cardinals as a -124 favorite. As of this writing, 54% of the betting tickets wagered at online sportsbooks are on the Cardinals to beat the Pirates on the money line. This information is subject to change, however, so be sure to check out our MLB Public Betting Page for updated figures on this game.
Cardinals’ Flaherty to get second start of season
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny confirmed Tuesday that Jack Flaherty will start Saturday in Pittsburgh. He’ll again be filling in for Adam Wainwright, who landed back on the disabled list Sunday due to elbow inflammation. Wainwright expects to return when first eligible, but elbow injuries can be tricky and this is not his first one.
Flaherty struck out nine batters over five innings of one-run ball back on April 3 against the Brewers and then got optioned to Triple-A Memphis the next day. He’s registered a 2.25 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, and 22/3 K/BB ratio in 20 innings (three starts) for Memphis since the demotion.
Pirates’ Williams allows one hit but walks a problem
Trevor Williams allowed just one hit over six innings on Sunday against the Phillies in a no decision. Williams allowed just two runs along with the one hit, and he struck out seven. That’s the good. The bad comes from the fact that Williams walked five, and he’s really struggled to find the strike zone over his first month of the season. He’s missed bats in the process, however, and he’s had enough luck to post a strong 2.15 ERA. It’s worth wondering how long he can keep this up, however. He’ll try again on Saturday against the Cardinals.
MLB Betting Trends
St. Louis
The Cardinals have lost five of their last six meetings with the Pirates in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh
The Pirates have lost 10 of Williams’ last 12 outings coming off a quality start in his last appearance.
Prediction:
Flaherty is a stud. He struck out nine batters earlier this season against the Brewers and if the Cardinals didn’t have so much committed to Adam Wainwright in the final year of his deal, Flaherty would probably be in their rotation full time. Flaherty has always possessed great strikeout stuff and gets to face a Pittsburgh team that struck out seven times versus Miles Mikolas last night. Williams has been solid for the Pirates but I like the Cardinals to rebound tonight.
The Pick: St. Louis Cardinals -130