The St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates play the second game of their four-game series when the NL Central rivals collide on Saturday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The Cardinals took the Opening Day game, 9-0, behind six scoreless innings from Adam Wainwright and a career-high five RBI from Tyler O’Neill. The game marked the return of Albert Pujols and the debut of 35-year-old St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol. On Saturday Miles Mikolas (2-3, 4.23 ERA last season) will start for St. Louis; he will face Pittsburgh’s Mitch Keller (5-11, 6.17).
- Cardinals vs. Pirates moneyline: St. Louis -175, Pittsburgh +155
- Cardinals vs. Pirates run line: St. Louis -1.5 (+100)
- Cardinals vs. Pirates Over/Under: 8.5 runs
- STL: Paul Goldschmidt hit .500 during spring training
- PIT: Bryan Reynolds tied for the major league lead last season in triples (eight)
Featured Game | St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
Why you should back the Cardinals
St. Louis looks as if it has picked up where it left off last season. Going back to last year, the Cardinals have won 22 of their last 26 games (excluding spring training games). That’s the best record in baseball over that stretch by far.
In addition, Paul Goldschmidt enters the season with a hot bat. The six-time All-Star finished spring training with a .500 batting average (11-of-22) with four home runs. In Thursday’s season opener, he drew four straight walks, becoming the first player to do that on Opening Day since Manny Ramírez in 2002.
Why you should back the Pirates
Bryan Reynolds is poised for another standout season. Last year the 27-year-old outfielder hit .302/.390/.522 with 24 home runs and 90 RBI during an All-Star season. He also tied for the major league lead with eight triples.
In addition, Pittsburgh starter Mitch Keller has the stuff to shut down the Cardinals lineup. After the average on his fastball dropped to 93.8 miles per hour last season, Keller, who regularly hit 100 mph on his fastball in the minors and averaged 95.4 mph on his fastball in 2019, overhauled his pitching mechanics in the offseason. With improved lower-body strength and flexibility and a shorter arm action on his delivery, Keller regained the triple-digit speed on his fastball.
