St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction, 4/30/2021 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates

Date: Friday, April 30, 2021

Location: PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA

TV: AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh

Odds/Point Spread: St. Louis (-115) Pittsburgh (+105)

PNC Park is the venue where JT Brubaker and the Pittsburgh Pirates (12-12, 2nd in NL Central) will take on the St. Louis Cardinals (12-12, 3rd in NL Central) on Friday. The moneyline on this contest has the Cardinals coming in at -115 and the Pirates are at +105. The O/U has been set at 8. The starting pitchers will be John Gant and JT Brubaker.

The Cardinals have accounted for 29 two-baggers as a unit and have knocked 30 balls out of the stadium. St. Louis has a slugging rate of .385 and have been called out on strikes 214 times, while being walked on 75 occasions. As a squad, the St. Louis Cardinals are putting up 4.4 runs per game, which is 12th in baseball. They have accounted for 97 runs batted in and 176 base knocks so far this season, and their average at the plate is .225. They have 106 runs scored and hold an on-base percentage of .299.

The Cardinals have an earned run average of 4.07 on the season (16th in baseball), and the staff has struck out 204 hitters. They have a K/BB ratio of 2.17 and the pitching staff holds a WHIP of 1.27. Cardinals pitchers have yielded 21 home runs and 102 runs in total (16th in baseball). Their pitching staff has walked 94 opposing batters and their FIP sits at 4.06 as a team on the year.

The Cardinals have dispatched 78 relief pitchers to the hill on the year. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 37 runners for the year with 27.0% of those runners ended up crossing the plate. They have accumulated 7 saves for the year and have blown 1 out of their 8 chances to save the game. The Cardinals bullpen have a save rate of 87.5% and has stepped onto the mound in 17 save situations. The relief pitchers have a total of 9 holds over the course of the season (22nd in the league). Cardinals bullpen pitchers have entered the contest with opponents on base 20 times as well as having 12 appearances in high leverage situations.

The St. Louis Cardinals have earned a total of 630 putouts on the year, in addition to 199 assists and 15 errors. Their fielding rate is holding steady at .982 which puts them in 22nd in MLB, and they have twisted 151 double plays. The Cardinals have turned 71.3% of balls hit into play into outs out of their 1,890 innings, which has them sitting at 8th in baseball.

Gant has taken the ball for 282 innings and has racked up 251 K's during his career. Gant (20-17 career mark) sits with a FIP of 4.11 and he has faced 1,203 batters in the majors. His earned run average is 3.69 (116 earned runs allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.351. He has allowed 240 base hits (7.6 hits per 9 innings) and has had 142 free passes.

Pittsburgh has 20 HRs so far this year as well as 92 RBIs. They have recorded 41 doubles, while walking 81 times as well as scoring 94 runs. The Pittsburgh Pirates have accounted for an on-base percentage of .309 in addition to a batting average of .230 on the year. The Pirates have a team SLG% of .365 and they have an average of 3.92 runs per outing (23rd in MLB). They have been called out on strikes on 213 instances (17th in MLB) and have recorded 182 hits.

The Pittsburgh pitching staff have yielded 106 runs this year while holding an ERA of 4.35 (99 earned runs relinquished). They have yielded 27 homers and they surrender 4.65 runs per 9 innings (19th in baseball). The Pirates have a team WHIP of 1.263 with a FIP of 4.10 as a pitching staff over the course of the season. Their strikeout to walk ratio sits at 2.57 (213 strikeouts vs 83 free passes). They rank 11th in the league as a pitching staff in total hits given up with 176.

Pittsburgh has called on relief pitchers to step onto the hill in 5 save opportunities and they have walked away with 4 saves. They are currently ranked 5th in baseball with a save percentage of 80.0%, and they have dispatched 87 relievers to the mound over the course of the season. Their relief pitchers have stepped onto the mound 19 times in high leverage situations and on 19 occasions with base runners. Pittsburgh relievers have an inherited score rate of 19.4% out of their 31 inherited base runners. With 21 save situations, the Pirates have tallied 14 holds and 1 blown save.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have twisted 21 double plays and own a fielding percentage of .985 (13th in the majors). The Pirates have accrued 213 assists, 13 errors and have accumulated 615 putouts during this campaign. In their 1,845 innings on the diamond, the Pirates have a defensive efficiency of 70.4% (16th in pro baseball).

Brubaker (3-4 win-loss mark in his career) has earned a 4.00 earned run average while surrendering 8.3 hits per 9 innings. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.23 and he has gone up against 296 batters in his pro baseball career. He has allowed a total of 31 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.234 and a FIP of 4.1. Thus far in his career, Brubaker has allowed 64 base hits while tallying 71 punch outs in 69 innings pitched.

Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Pittsburgh (+105)

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