Pirates vs. Cardinals prediction and odds for Sunday, Sept. 3 (Perfect Roadtrip?)
The Pirates are up 9-3 in the season series against the Cardinals and have a chance of finishing above the Cardinals for the first time this century.
![Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Liover Peguero (60)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_6271,h_3527,x_0,y_331/c_fill,w_752,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/4/01h9dwa36y16ghz97eqh.jpg)
The Pittsburgh Pirates might think about relocating to Missouri because between Kansas City and St. Louis, they are 5-0 on this current road trip. Last night, it took some ninth inning heroics from Josh Palacios who hit a go-ahead pinch-hit home run in the ninth in their 7-6 win. Now, the Cardinals are last in the division at 58-78 and five games behind the 63-73 Pirates.
For the series finale the Pirates will send former Cardinal Johan Oviedo to the mound for the 28th time this season. Oviedo is 8-13 with a 4.20 ERA and will be opposed by 3-5 Zack Thompson who has a 3.92 ERA in 20 previous appearances, just four of those were starts.
I’ll give you my pick and whether you want to back me or fade me you can do it in the DraftKings Sportsbook with this great promo. Just click the link below, sign up, deposit $5, bet on this matchup, and then collect $200 in bonus bets win or lose.
Now, let’s get into the odds for this NL Central showdown at Busch Stadium.
Pirates vs. Cardinals odds, run line and total
Pirates vs. Cardinals prediction and pick
Last night was a real jolt of excitement for the Pirates who have actually played pretty impressive baseball over the second half of the season.
#Pirates now 22-19 in last 41 games. Basically have played a quarter season on an 87-win pace.
— Josh Rowntree (@JRown32) September 3, 2023
A .500 finish to the year gives them 76 wins.
This team has holes that need filled this offseason, but they’re trending in a positive direction heading towards 2024. @937theFan
A lot of their younger players have been contributing to the success and Liover Peguero has been particularly impressive. He had two hits last night and since coming up on July 17, Peguero has driven in 20 runs and has hit six homers. He has a .768 OPS and a wRC+ of 104 with four steals. He has four hits and a walk in this series and has scored twice.
I’m really not worried about the Pittsburgh offense because over the last 30 days they are 12th in runs scored. However, I don’t like how they matchup against lefties like Thompson and I’m not sure what kind of performance we’ll get from Johan Oviedo.
Last time out Oviedo threw a complete game two-hit shutout against the Royals, but the entire season he’s been very up and down from start to start. I think he can give them a chance to win tonight because while I don’t like how Pittsburgh matches up against lefties, Zack Thompson hasn’t gone more than five innings in a start all year. St. Louis’s bullpen is 22nd in baseball with a 4.86 ERA since August first and the Pirates have beaten the Cardinals nine times in 12 tries this season.
I’ll take the Bucs to finish off the sweep and the perfect road trip.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change