Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, 8/28/2026 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals

Date: Friday, August 28, 2026

Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

TV: Cardinals.TV

Odds/Point Spread: Pittsburgh (-145) St. Louis (+125)

Busch Stadium is the location where the St. Louis Cardinals (66-68) will play the Pittsburgh Pirates (65-70) on Friday. The moneyline on this contest has the Pirates at -145 while the Cardinals are opening at +125. The total comes in at 9. The pitchers who are expected to start are Jared Jones and Quinn Mathews.

As a team, the Pittsburgh Pirates are scoring 4.9 runs per contest, which has them at 5th in MLB. They have 657 runs scored while holding a team on-base percentage of .329. The Pirates have accrued 204 doubles as a team and have hit 158 balls out of the stadium. They have amassed 627 runs batted in and 1,172 hits so far this year, and their team batting average is .252. Pittsburgh has a slugging rate of .404 and have struck out 1,278 times, while drawing a walk on 479 occasions.

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They have earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.50 and their pitching staff holds a WHIP of 1.32. Pirates pitchers have relinquished 134 long balls and also 633 total runs (23rd in baseball). Pittsburgh has conceded 1,087 hits (8.1 per 9 innings) in addition to 565 earned runs. The Pirates are sitting with a team earned run average of 4.22 for the year (19th in baseball), and their staff has struck out 1,249 batters. Their pitching staff has walked 499 players from the other team and their FIP is 3.88 as a team this year.

The Pirates relievers have a save rate of 56.3% and have come into the game in 100 save situations. They have 27 saves on the season and have blown 21 of their 48 save chances. The relievers have inherited 158 runners over the course of the season and 32.9% of them earned a run for their team. Pirates relief pitchers have entered the contest with runners on base 113 times in addition to having 121 appearances in high leverage situations. The Pirates have dispatched 433 relief pitchers to the hill this season. The relief pitchers have notched 51 holds so far this year (29th in MLB).

The Pittsburgh Pirates have accumulated 3,616 putouts on the campaign, as well as 1,061 assists and 84 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .982 which puts them in 26th in the majors, and they have turned 112 double plays. The Pirates have transformed 68.7% of balls in play into outs out of their 10,848 innings on the diamond, which has them sitting at 27th in professional baseball.

Jones has taken the ball for 189 frames and has totaled 209 strikeouts in his MLB career. His ERA is 4.38 (92 earned runs allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.216. He has allowed 165 base hits (7.8 hits per 9 innings) and has 65 walks. Jones (8-13 career record) is the owner of a FIP of 4.31 while he has gone up against 793 hitters in the majors.

The St. Louis Cardinals are sitting with an on-base percentage of .316 in addition to a team batting average of .241 on the season. They have been rung up on 1,047 instances (26th in the league) and have tallied 1,086 base hits. St. Louis has knocked in 139 home runs over the course of the season to go along with 578 RBIs. The Cardinals have a team slugging % of .382 and they tally 4.43 runs per contest (18th in baseball). They have recorded 189 doubles, while walking 432 times and earning 593 runs.

The St. Louis pitching staff have surrendered 608 runs over the course of the season while having a team ERA of 4.24 (562 earned runs allowed). They have relinquished 133 long balls and they surrender 4.58 runs per 9 innings (19th in MLB). The Cardinals hold a team WHIP of 1.344 and have a FIP of 4.08 as a pitching staff this year. Their K/BB ratio sits at 7.80 (1,035 strikeouts against 452 free passes). They have a ranking of 26th in the league as a staff in total hits relinquished with 1,153.

They sit at 18th in MLB with a save percentage of 61.3%, and they have dispatched 449 bullpen pitchers onto the field for the season. Their relief pitchers have stepped onto the hill 168 times in high leverage situations and on 136 occasions with runners on. Sitting with 152 save situations, the Cardinals have tallied 86 holds and also 24 blown saves. St. Louis has called on bullpen pitchers to take the mound in 62 save chances and they have tallied 38 saves. St. Louis relief pitchers hold an inherited score percentage of 39.5% out of their 205 inherited runners.

In 10,746 innings played, the Cardinals have a defensive efficiency of 69.2% (23rd in professional baseball). The St. Louis Cardinals have turned 133 double plays and have notched a fielding percentage of .989 (4th in the majors). The Cardinals have recorded 1,257 assists, 56 errors and have notched a total of 3,582 putouts over the course of the season.

During his career, Matthews has surrendered 18 hits while he has accumulated 13 K's in 14 innings pitched. Matthews (0-2 win-loss mark in his career) has a 6.43 ERA while giving up 11.6 hits per nine innings. He has given up a total of 10 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.786 and being the owner of a FIP of 6.3. His strikeout to walk ratio is 1.86 and he has faced 66 batters so far in his career.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take St. Louis (+125)

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