The Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals meet in an NL Central division matchup in MLB action from Busch Stadium on Monday night.
The Pittsburgh Pirates will try to snap a six-game losing skid after their 5-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves in their last outing. Ke’Bryan Hayes has a team-high 56 hits and 14 doubles with a team-high .277 batting average as well as 21 RBIs while Daniel Vogelbach has 7 home runs and 15 RBIs. Ben Gamel also has 17 RBIs while Michael Chavis also has 19 RBIs. Reynolds also has a team-high 10 home runs and Jack Suwinski also has 8 homers this season. Mitch Keller will start here and is 2-5 with a 5.26 ERA and 44 strikeouts this season.
The St. Louis Cardinals will hope to bounce back after failing to complete the sweep of the Reds over the weekend with a 7-6 loss in Sunday’s finale. Nolan Arenado leads the Cards with 10 home runs along with 41 RBIs, 14 doubles, 61 hits and a .281 batting average while Tommy Edman has a .280 batting average and 65 hits with 3 triples, 6 home runs and 25 RBIs. Dylan Carlson has 9 doubles, Paul Goldschmidt has a team-high 72 hits, 19 doubles and a. 327 batting average with 12 home runs and a team-high 47 RBIs while Tyler O’Neill has 26 RBIs as well up to this point in the year. Zack Thompson will start here and is 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 3 strikeouts this season.
Pittsburgh is 42-103 in their last 145 road games and 27-65 in their last 92 division games while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 games following a loss. St. Louis is 5-1 in their last 6 home games and 36-15 in their last 51 Monday games while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games against a right-handed starter.
I get the case to be made for both sides here, but it’s hard to vouch for the Cards as a heavy favorite with only one appearance from Zack Thompson so far, and I truly wonder how long Mitch Keller’s turn of fortune can be sustained. I think this is a spot where both offenses could struggle to get off the ground in the early going, so I’ll side with the under in the first five innings here.