Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, 8/28/2025 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals

Date: Thursday, August 28, 2025

Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Midwest

Odds/Point Spread: Pittsburgh (+162) St. Louis (-196)

The Pittsburgh Pirates (58-75) are en route to Busch Stadium on Thursday where they will compete against the St. Louis Cardinals (65-68). The line on this contest has the Pirates at +162 and the Cardinals are coming in at -196. The over/under is set at 9. The starting pitchers are Braxton Ashcraft and Miles Mikolas.

Pittsburgh has a slugging % of .353 and have been called out on strikes 1,151 times, while being walked on 425 occasions. They have earned 464 runs batted in and 1,035 base knocks so far this season, and their average at the plate is at .235. The Pirates have compiled 197 doubles as a squad and have hit 97 balls out of the park. They have earned 481 runs while holding a team OBP of .306. As a squad, the Pittsburgh Pirates are notching 3.6 runs per game, which has them sitting at 30th in baseball.

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The Pirates are sitting with a team earned run average of 3.95 on the year (14th in the league), and their staff has rung up 1,047 hitters. Pirates pitchers have surrendered 128 long balls and also 547 runs in total (9th in MLB). Their pitching staff has walked 381 opposing players and their FIP is 3.89 as a squad so far this year. Pittsburgh has relinquished 1,046 hits (8.0 per 9 innings) and 515 earned runs. Their strikeout to walk ratio is 2.75 and their pitching staff has a collective WHIP of 1.22.

The Pirates have dispatched 411 relievers to the mound this year. The relievers have inherited 186 base runners over the course of the season with 37.1% of those runners crossed the plate. They have accumulated 28 saves on the campaign and have missed out on 21 out of their 49 chances to get a save. The Pirates relief pitchers have accumulated a save percentage of 57.1% and stepped onto the hill in 108 save situations. The bullpen have earned 57 holds on the year (25th in MLB). Pirates relief pitchers have stepped onto the hill with runners on 119 times and also have had 128 appearances in high leverage situations.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have accounted for 3,521 putouts over the course of the season, in addition to 1,099 assists and 63 errors. Their fielding rate sits at .987 which ranks 14th in MLB, and have a total of 94 double plays. The Pirates have transformed 70.9% of balls hit into play into outs out of their 10,563 innings, which has them ranked 6th in baseball.

Ashcraft has pitched in 46 innings and is sitting with 43 K's during his MLB career. Ashcraft (4-2 career mark) is the owner of a FIP of 2.69 while he has faced 193 opposing batters in the major leagues. His earned run average is 2.73 (14 ER's allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.190. He has surrendered 41 hits (8.0 hits per nine innings) and has 14 walks.

St. Louis has accounted for 126 home runs so far this year and 555 runs batted in. They have 220 two-baggers, while walking 400 times as well as scoring 583 runs. The St. Louis Cardinals have tallied an OBP of .317 and a batting average of .248 this year. The Cardinals have a team slugging % of .384 and they are scoring 4.38 runs per game (16th in baseball). They have struck out on 1,050 occasions (23rd in baseball) and are sitting with 1,112 base knocks.

The St. Louis pitching staff have relinquished 619 runs on the season while having an ERA of 4.33 (565 earned runs relinquished). They have conceded 135 long balls and they give up 4.75 runs per 9 innings (23rd in the league). The Cardinals hold a team WHIP of 1.308 and have a FIP of 3.98 as a team so far this season. Their K/BB ratio sits at 7.50 (981 strikeouts vs 365 walks). They rank 27th in MLB as a staff in total hits relinquished with 1,170.

St. Louis has had bullpen pitchers enter the game in 50 save chances and they have tallied 32 saves. They rank 11th in the league with a save rate of 64.0%, and they have dispatched 394 relief pitchers to the mound this year. Their relievers have stepped onto the hill 123 times in high leverage situations and on 126 occasions with base runners. St. Louis relievers hold an inherited score percentage of 33.5% out of 176 inherited runners. With 127 save situations, the Cardinals have earned 74 holds and 18 blown saves.

The St. Louis Cardinals have turned 102 double plays and own a fielding percentage of .987 (13th in the majors). The Cardinals have recorded 1,276 assists, 65 errors and have earned a total of 3,521 putouts on the season. Out of their 10,563 innings on the field, the Cardinals hold a defensive efficiency of 69.0% (23rd in baseball).

Mikolas (70-74 career mark) has a 4.26 ERA while giving up 9.2 hits per nine innings. He has a K/BB ratio of 3.65 and he has gone up against 5,091 opposing hitters during his career. He has conceded 578 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.219 and a FIP of 4.2. Thus far in his career, Mikolas has surrendered 1,248 base knocks while he has tallied 876 K's in 1,221 innings.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Pittsburgh (+162)

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