Cardinals vs Pirates Picks, Odds & Starting Pitchers (June 4)

• St. Louis is a -150 moneyline favorite in the Cardinals vs Pirates odds on Sunday morning
• The Pirates enter play riding a four-game winning streak
• Don’t miss the latest Cardinals vs Pirates picks, odds, and starting pitchers below

Sunday mornings are usually reserved for sleeping in and brunch. Well, you can now add a little MLB action to your Sunday morning ritual.

Peacock’s MLB Leadoff package is showcasing an 11:35 am ET contest nearly every Sunday morning until early September, with the Cardinals and Pirates having the honor of an early start this weekend.

Pittsburgh has taken the first two games of this three-game set, but online sportsbooks are siding against them in the MLB odds. They’ve pegged St. Louis as the road chalk for this matchup, despite some truly horrendous recent form.

Cardinals vs Pirates Odds

The Cardinals are currently -150 moneyline favorites, in a contest with a total of 9. PNC Park will play host to the contest, with clear skies and 68-degree game-time temperatures on deck.

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Odds as of June 3 at Bet365. Check out SBD’s Bet365 review or another one of North America’s top sports betting sites.

St. Louis vs Pittsburgh Probable Pitchers

St. Louis will give the ball to ace Miles Mikolas, which is the primary reason they’re favored. Mikolas enters play with a 4-1 record, posting back-to-back shutouts over his past two starts.

Last time out, he blanked the Royals over 8 innings, scattering only three hits and striking out 10. The start prior, he shut out the Reds over 7 innings, yielding five hits to go along with five K’s.

Miles Mikolas

8 IP
0 R
3 H
1 BB
10 K
34 Whiff%
38 CSW%

Cy Young potential pic.twitter.com/nwgEk9pV62

— Jacob (@CardinalsReek) May 31, 2023

Mikolas has surrendered one run or less in four of his last five outings while posting a 24-to-6 strikeout-to-walk rate. He’s allowed only two home runs over his last 44.1 innings and boasts a strong history versus the current Pirates bats in the MLB starting lineups.

Pittsburgh hitters are batting only .257 over 101 career bats against Mikolas, striking out 20 times and recording just eight extra-base hits.

Mikolas vs Hill Stats

The Pirates will counter with lefty Rich Hill. The wily veteran is still toeing the rubber at age 43, but his recent performance suggests maybe he shouldn’t be. Hill has been shelled in consecutive starts and has a brutal track record versus the Cardinals.

Last time out, the Giants lit him up for nine hits and six runs over 6 innings, while the start prior resulted in seven hits against and five runs allowed to the Rangers.

Hill has faced the Cards lineup plenty having spent time with the Dodgers and Mets in recent years, and St. Louis has gotten the better of him. The Cardinals batters are slashing .349/.423/.571 against Hill, with four home runs.

Cardinals vs Pirates Predictions

Paul Goldschmidt has accounted for three of those dingers, and it’s unlikely there’s a pitcher he’d like to see more than Hill on the mound. Goldschmidt is 12-for-23 all-time versus Hill, with an absurd 1.490 OPS. The reigning NL MVP odds winner is a distant contender to win the award this year, but after a slow start, he’s showing signs of life.

Paul Goldschmidt hits the Cardinals’ third home run of the inning! 😱

(via @Cardinals)pic.twitter.com/sacWB84f4h

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 28, 2023

Goldschmidt was 2-for-4 in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Pirates, giving him multi-hit efforts in back-to-back games to start the series. He’s 5-for-8 overall this weekend and is hitting .347 versus Pittsburgh pitching this season.

Goldschmidt crushes left-handed pitching, as do the rest of his teammates. St. Louis’ slugging percentage and OPS rise .34 and .45 points respectively when facing lefties, and a date with Hill could solve their recent woes.

The Cards have dropped five of seven overall, scoring only 18 runs in the process. They currently sit last in the NL Central, a spot they haven’t occupied for a long time, six games back of Pittsburgh.

The Pirates on the other hand, have won four straight. They crossed the plate seven times in the series opener on Friday, and nine times the previous time out, but those two performances look like outliers.

Cardinals vs Pirates 2023 H2H Results

This is still a team that averages just four runs a game, and that’s hit the sixth-fewest home runs in baseball. They’re still missing one of their top hitters Oneil Cruz (fibula), and boast only two players with a WAR of at least 1.0.

Pittsburgh hits righties like Mikolas far worse than southpaws, and have scored four runs or fewer in seven of 10 contests. Expect them to struggle early on versus the Cards, and for St. Louis’ bats to snap out of their funk versus Hill.

Pick: St. Louis Cardinals First 5 Innings Moneyline (-144)