Cardinals vs Pirates Picks and Odds (May 20)
By Robert Duff in MLB Baseball
Updated: May 20, 2022 at 11:26 am EDTPublished:
- The St Louis Cardinals are -150 road favorites over the Pittsburgh Pirates as they open a three-game weekend National League series on Friday, May 20
- St Louis is 13-3 straight up in the club’s last 16 games played at Pittsburgh
- All the Cardinals vs Pirates odds, predictions, and best bets are examined in the story below
Should the Pittsburgh Pirates be drawing inspiration from the fact that the New York Mets finally got the better of the St Louis Cardinals?
Prior to arriving at PNC Park, the Cards dropped a series to the Mets for the first time since 2018. St Louis owns a 13-3 straight up edge over the Pirates in the past 16 games played between the two clubs in Pittsburgh.
They’ll open a three-game weekend series on Friday and oddsmakers are staying with the Cardinals. St Louis is a -150 road favorite over the Pirates in Friday’s series opener. The Cards are 5-7 against the runline over their past 12 games.
Cardinals vs Pirates Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Louis Cardinals | -150 | -1.5 (+110) | Over 8 (-120) |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | +130 | +1.5 (-130) | Under 8 (+100) |
Odds as of May 19th at Caesars Sportsbook.
Bet $1 & Double Your Winnings On Your First 10 Bets!
First pitch at PNC Park is slated for 6:35 pm ET on Friday, May 20. In the weather forecast, there’s clouds, 12 mph wind and a temperature of 85 degrees. At a favored moneyline of -150, St Louis is being given a 60% implied probability of victory in this game.
The Cardinals are the +230 second betting option in the NL Central odds. You’ll get +35000 odds on the Pirates to take the NL Central crown, should you be so bold. In the World Series odds, St Louis is the ninth option among NL clubs at a betting line of +3500.
The public is in lockstep with the oddsmakers in their support of St Louis. The MLB betting trends are showing 59% of the bets placed against the spread are on the Cardinals at -1.5. As well, the moneyline splits show 59% of the bets are on the Cardinals at -150 odds. In keeping with this trends, 59% of the public bets are on the Under (8).
St Louis vs Pittsburgh Probable Pitchers
Adam Wainwright, the 40-year-old right-hander, just keeps on trucking for the Cardinals. He’s 21-10 over his last 39 starts going back to the beginning of last season. Wainwright is also old-school durable. He led the NL in complete games in both 2020 (2) and 2021 (3).
Wainwright has worked at least five innings in all but one of his seven starts this season. That staying power has enabled him to figure in the decision in all seven starts. He’s struck out 33 against only 15 walks.
Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina now have more wins than any other battery in MLB history! pic.twitter.com/QlnqyflgFm
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 16, 2022
Facing Pittsburgh in his first start of the season on opening day, Wainwright hurled six scoreless innings and got the win in a 9-0 shutout. Against the Pirates over his career, Wainwright is an impressive 22-7 with a 3.65 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. At PNC Park, he’s 10-4 for a .714 win percentage and with a 4.74 ERA.
Wainwright vs Thompson
| 4-3 | Record | 2-3 |
| 3.15 | ERA | 5.47 |
| 3.89 | xERA | 4.54 |
| 1.23 | WHIP | 1.52 |
| 2.20 | SO/W Ratio | 1.69 |
Pirates right-hander Zach Thompson is unbeaten (2-0) in three May appearances, including two starts. Thompson won in relief in the second game of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers on May 4.
Zach Thompson has the most innings pitched in the month of May without conceding a run:
12 Innings Pitched
10 Strikeouts
4 Hits
0 Runs pic.twitter.com/Vzn2XeZs5d— GleyberMetrics (@GleyberMetrics) May 15, 2022
He hasn’t allowed a run in 12 innings of work during the month. Thompson was 0-3 with a 10.05 ERA in four April starts.
He’s made one career appearance against St Louis, working a scoreless inning in relief. At PNC Park he’s 1-1 in three starts with a 3.77 ERA.
Batting Average vs Starting Pitchers
| Cardinals Batters | Batting Average vs Thompson | Pirates Batters | Batting Average vs Wainwright |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nolan Arenado | .000 | Diego Castillo | .000 |
| Harrison Bader | .000 | Rodolfo Castro | .000 |
| Dylan Carlson | .000 | Michael Chavis | .000 |
| Corey Dickerson | .000 | Ben Gamel | .077 |
| Brendan Donovan | .000 | Ke’Bryan Hayes | .000 |
| Tommy Edman | .000 | Tyler Heineman | .000 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | .000 | Michael Perez | .000 |
| Nolan Gorman | .000 | Bryan Reynolds | .222 |
| Andrew Knizner | .000 | Jack Suwinski | .000 |
| Yadier Molina | .000 | Yoshi Tsutsugo | .200 |
| Albert Pujols | .000 | Josh VanMeter | .167 |
| Edmundo Sosa | .000 | Daniel Vogelbach | .154 |
| Juan Yepez | .000 | — | — |
Pittsburgh’s Daniel Vogelbach is just 2-for-13 (.154) when facing Wainwright but one of his hits was a solo homer. Bryan Reynolds is 6-for-27 (.222) off of Wainwright.
Bryan Reynolds just kept running and nobody on the Cubs knew what to do about it pic.twitter.com/L5XPzF0cFZ
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 22, 2022
No Cardinals hitter has ever faced Thompson in an MLB game.
Cardinals vs Pirates Prediction
St Louis has lost two in a row and three of four. Pittsburgh has won one in a row, which is a winning streak for the woeful Pirates. Taking recency bias into account, it might be tempting to wager on the Bucs.
Then you look at Wainwright’s career mark against the Pirates and the overall St Louis success at Pittsburgh and you think this is not the time to do something silly.
Pick: St Louis Cardinals ML (-150)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOKUSE CODE SBD1500 & GET $1,500 BACK IN BONUS BETS
BET365 SPORTSBOOKBET $5 & GET $150 IN BONUS BETS WITH CODE DIME365
FANATICS SPORTSBOOKBET & GET UP TO $1,000 IN BONUS BETS!
DRAFTKINGS SPORTSBOOKBET $5 & GET $200 IN BONUS BETS INSTANTLY!
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOKBET $5 & GET $250 IF YOUR BET WINS
CAESARS SPORTSBOOKUSE CODE SBD2DYW & BET $1 TO DOUBLE THE WINNINGS ON YOUR FIRST 10 BETS!
Must be 21+. GAMBLING PROBLEM? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (CO, IL, KS, KY, MD, MI, NC, NJ, OH, PA, TN, VA, VT, WV, WY); (800) 327-5050 or gamblinghelplinema.org (MA); (877) 8-HOPENY (NY); 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ); (888) 789-7777 (CT); 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA); 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN); mdgamblinghelp.org (MD); morethanagame.nc.gov (NC); 1800gambler.net (WV)
Sports Writer
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
