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Pittsburgh Pirates Open MLB Odds Set In St. Louis
The Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals will meet for the fourth time in 11 days on Thursday when they square off in the series opener of a four-game set at Busch Stadium. The teams will face each other three more times in the middle of September at Pittsburgh, and both are considered long shots to catch the Milwaukee Brewers for the lead in the National League Central.
Thursday's series opener in St. Louis is scheduled to start at 5:15 p.m. (PT).
The Cardinals lost two of three at PNC Park early last week to start a negative trend of three consecutive series losses that pushed them 10 games behind the division-leading Brewers heading into Wednesday’s action.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh had dropped 14 of the previous 15 meetings with Milwaukee going into Wednesday’s series finale at home. The Bucs have won just two series over the past month, including the one against St. Louis.
Pittsburgh’s Charlie Morton (9-6, 3.42 ERA) has pitched great over his last four starts but does not have much to show for it. Morton has given up a combined three runs in 28 1/3 innings with the Pirates splitting those four games. They scored five runs in each of the wins and totaled one in the two losses.
Morton has been a much better pitcher on the road this season with a 6-2 mark and 3.07 ERA. He has been an underdog in five of his past six outings, cashing at +170 on the road against San Francisco on August 8 and +120 at home against the Cardinals on July 24.
The ‘under’ is 4-0 in his last four starts.
St. Louis will turn to Edwin Jackson (9-9, 4.03) in hopes of winning a series opener for the first time since August 12. The Cardinals have lost three of Jackson’s last four outings and are 2-3 since he joined the team after coming over in a trade from the Chicago White Sox.
Jackson has allowed three runs or less in his past three starts but has not received much run support in the two losses during that stretch. St. Louis was blanked 3-0 by the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in his last outing on Saturday as a small -105 favorite.
He has been favored in all five of his starts with the Cardinals, facing just three teams, including the Cubs and Brewers twice apiece.
The ‘under’ is 2-0-1 in his last three outings.
The weather forecast for St. Louis on Thursday calls for a high temperature of 87 degrees under sunny skies after a heat wave featuring isolated thunderstorms rolls through the area on Wednesday.
The series will continue Friday with a matchup of right-handers, Jake Westbrook for the Cards and James McDonald for the Pirates.
The Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals will meet for the fourth time in 11 days on Thursday when they square off in the series opener of a four-game set at Busch Stadium. The teams will face each other three more times in the middle of September at Pittsburgh, and both are considered long shots to catch the Milwaukee Brewers for the lead in the National League Central.
Thursday's series opener in St. Louis is scheduled to start at 5:15 p.m. (PT).
The Cardinals lost two of three at PNC Park early last week to start a negative trend of three consecutive series losses that pushed them 10 games behind the division-leading Brewers heading into Wednesday’s action.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh had dropped 14 of the previous 15 meetings with Milwaukee going into Wednesday’s series finale at home. The Bucs have won just two series over the past month, including the one against St. Louis.
Pittsburgh’s Charlie Morton (9-6, 3.42 ERA) has pitched great over his last four starts but does not have much to show for it. Morton has given up a combined three runs in 28 1/3 innings with the Pirates splitting those four games. They scored five runs in each of the wins and totaled one in the two losses.
Morton has been a much better pitcher on the road this season with a 6-2 mark and 3.07 ERA. He has been an underdog in five of his past six outings, cashing at +170 on the road against San Francisco on August 8 and +120 at home against the Cardinals on July 24.
The ‘under’ is 4-0 in his last four starts.
St. Louis will turn to Edwin Jackson (9-9, 4.03) in hopes of winning a series opener for the first time since August 12. The Cardinals have lost three of Jackson’s last four outings and are 2-3 since he joined the team after coming over in a trade from the Chicago White Sox.
Jackson has allowed three runs or less in his past three starts but has not received much run support in the two losses during that stretch. St. Louis was blanked 3-0 by the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in his last outing on Saturday as a small -105 favorite.
He has been favored in all five of his starts with the Cardinals, facing just three teams, including the Cubs and Brewers twice apiece.
The ‘under’ is 2-0-1 in his last three outings.
The weather forecast for St. Louis on Thursday calls for a high temperature of 87 degrees under sunny skies after a heat wave featuring isolated thunderstorms rolls through the area on Wednesday.
The series will continue Friday with a matchup of right-handers, Jake Westbrook for the Cards and James McDonald for the Pirates.
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