Pirates vs Cardinals Picks and Odds – Aug. 27
- The visiting St. Louis Cardinals are -176 favorites to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon
- The Cards have won 12 of their past 14 games against the Bucs
- St. Louis is 6-1 in the last seven games played against Pittsburgh at Busch Stadium
To say that the St. Louis Cardinals have dominated against their NL Central rivals the Pittsburgh Pirates might not be doing enough justice to exactly how one-sided their hold on the competition has been.
Pittsburgh fans will point out that the Pirates were 5-1 winners the last time the two ball clubs met but, as the analytics nerds like to point out, that’s a small sample size.
Over the past 14 games between the two teams, St. Louis owns a 12-2 edge. The Pirates are 1-6 in their last seven visits to Busch Stadium.
No wonder then that the Redbirds are listed as -176 favorites in the Cardinals vs Pirates odds for Thursday’s 3:15 pm ET matinee.
Pirates vs Cardinals Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total at FanDuel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Pirates | +152 | +1.5 (-162) | U 7.0 (-110) |
| St. Louis Cardinals | -176 | -1.5 (+136) | O 7.0 (-110) |
Odds as of Aug. 26.
The Cardinals are 7-1-1 in the last nine series at home against Pittsburgh.
Cards Are Dealing
This game is the opener of a two-night doubleheader, a fact of life the Cardinals are preparing to face with frequency over the next few weeks. A COVID-19 outbreak on the team shut St. Louis down for 16 days from July 30-Aug. 15.
Already, this is the fourth doubleheader St. Louis will have played over the past 12 days. The Cardinals face six more twinbills on the slate between Sept. 5-18.
Manager Mike Shildt indicated his intention to roll with a six-man starting rotation to deal with the many two-for-one days ahead for the team.
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 27, 2020
St. Louis also has 10 players poised to return to the active roster from the COVID-19 injured list. That means there will be plenty of roster juggling ahead for the team.
In Wednesday’s game against the Kansas City Royals, Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler was a late scratch. He was boycotting in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Kuhl a Battler
Coming back to the mound from Tommy John surgery, the Pirates already knew that Chad Kuhl was a scrapper. He showed that sort of mettle in his last start against the Milwaukee Brewers,
Though Kuhl didn’t bring his best stuff to the hill, he scratched and clawed his way through five innings. Checking the Brewers on one run, Pittsburgh won 7-2 and Kuhl picked up his first victory since June 15, 2018.
Cardinals Career Stats vs Kuhl
| Player | AB | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrison Bader | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Dylan Carlson | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Matt Carpenter | 13 | 0 | 0 | .231 |
| Paul DeJong | 6 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Tommy Erdman | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Dexter Fowler | 8 | 0 | 0 | .125 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | 2 | 0 | 1 | .500 |
| Andrew Knizner | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Brad Miller | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Yadier Molina | 13 | 1 | 2 | .462 |
| Tyler O’Neill | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Max Schrock | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Kolten Wong | 7 | 0 | 1 | .143 |
Overall, Kuhl is 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA and 19 strikeouts through four starts covering 19 innings. He shows a 1.00 WHIP.
The right-hander is 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA in seven career starts against the Cardinals. Even after his surgery, Kuhl still shows plenty of zip on his fastball. He gets it to the plate around 94-95 mph.
https://twitter.com/RobBiertempfel/status/1298615386238263298?s=20
With the MLB trade deadline approaching at the end of the month, Kuhl is also the subject of trade rumors. His name is being linked to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Kim a Starter And Finisher
A big-league rookie signed from the Korean League, Kwang Hyun Kim came to camp projected as a left-handed starting pitcher but began the season as the Cardinals’ closer. Already this season, Kim has closed out a win over the Pirates.
He pitched the ninth inning of a 5-4 victory over Pittsburgh on July 24 to earn the save in his major-league debut.
Pirates Career Stats vs Kim
| Player | AB | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Bell | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Jarrod Dyson | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Adam Frazier | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Erik Gonzalez | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Colin Moran | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| John Ryan Murphy | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Kevin Newman | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Jose Osuna | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1.000 |
| Gregory Polanco | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Bryan Reynolds | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| JT Riddle | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Jacob Stallings | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Cole Tucker | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Making just his fourth big-league appearance, Kim will make his third start. He hurled six innings of scoreless baseball at the Cincinnati Red in his last start.
Kim got the decision in a 3-0 victory. It was his first win as an MLB pitcher.
Kwang-Hyun Kim gets his first Major League win, allows three hits in six innings, with no walks and three strikeouts. Says it's a dream come true to get his first win in MLB, a goal he's had since he was little. #STLCards
— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) August 23, 2020
He was moved into the starting rotation in early August after Carlos Martinez was lost to COVID-19 and Miles Mikolas underwent season-ending arm surgery.
Pick: St. Louis Cardinals (-176)
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.
