St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction, 4/28/2026 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates

Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Location: PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA

TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh

Odds/Point Spread: St. Louis (+125) Pittsburgh (-150)

The St. Louis Cardinals (14-13) are en route to PNC Park on Tuesday where they will play the Pittsburgh Pirates (16-12). The line on this contest has St. Louis at +125 while Pittsburgh is opening at -150. The total is set at 8.5. The expected starting pitchers are Kyle Leahy and Braxton Ashcraft.

The Cardinals have hit 35 doubles as a unit and have hit 34 balls out of the stadium. St. Louis is slugging .390 and have been rung up 225 times, while drawing a walk on 101 occasions. As a unit, the St. Louis Cardinals are knocking in 4.6 runs per game, which has them sitting at 13th in MLB. They have compiled 122 runs batted in in addition to 212 base knocks on the season, and their team batting average is .235. They have earned a total of 125 runs while holding a team OBP of .324.

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They have a strikeout to walk ratio of 1.73 and the pitching staff has a team WHIP of 1.43. Cardinals pitchers have surrendered 32 long balls and 140 runs in total (25th in MLB). St. Louis has surrendered 244 hits (9.0 per 9 innings) and 132 earned runs. The Cardinals are sitting with a team earned run average of 4.87 so far this year (27th in baseball), and they have struck out 182 hitters. They have walked 105 batters and their FIP sits at 4.82 as a squad for the year.

Cardinals bullpen pitchers have entered the game with runners on 33 times in addition to having 38 appearances in high leverage situations. The bullpen have recorded 21 holds on the year (5th in baseball). The Cardinals bullpen have earned a save rate of 60.0% and have stepped onto the mound in 37 save situations. They have accumulated 9 saves for the season and have not converted 6 of 15 save opportunities. The relief pitchers have inherited 48 runners on the year and 37.5% of those runners ended up crossing the plate. The Cardinals have dispatched 102 relievers to the hill over the course of the season.

The St. Louis Cardinals have a tally of 732 putouts this season, as well as 269 assists and 14 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .986 which is 13th in professional baseball, and have a total of 20 double plays. The Cardinals have turned 70.0% of balls hit into play into outs in their 2,196 innings on the diamond, ranking them 16th in baseball.

Leahy has pitched in 162 frames and has tallied 130 punch outs so far in his career. Leahy (7-7 mark in his career) has a FIP of 3.88 and he has faced 680 opposing hitters in the majors. His ERA is 3.94 (71 ER's allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.277. He has given up 153 base knocks (8.5 hits per 9 innings) and has had 54 free passes.

The Pirates hold a team SLG% of .372 and they average 4.82 runs per contest (10th in the league). They have hit 36 two-baggers, while walking 108 times as well as scoring 135 runs. Pittsburgh is sitting with 29 home runs on the season and 130 runs batted in. They have been rung up on 271 instances (3rd in the league) and have earned 234 base hits. The Pittsburgh Pirates are sitting with an on-base percentage of .325 as well as a team batting average of .241 over the course of the season.

The Pirates are sitting with a team WHIP of 1.238 with a FIP of 3.51 as a team on the year. They currently have a strikeout to walk ratio of 9.20 (261 strikeouts against 110 walks). They are sitting at 5th in MLB as a staff in total hits relinquished with 207. They have given up 19 home runs and they yield 3.90 runs per 9 innings (5th in the league). The Pittsburgh pitching staff have surrendered 111 runs over the course of the season and come in with a team ERA of 3.34 (95 earned runs conceded).

Pittsburgh bullpen pitchers hold an inherited score percentage of 29.6% of 27 inherited runners. Their relievers have come in 39 times in high leverage situations and on 25 occasions with runners on. Sitting with 32 save situations, the Pirates have earned 20 holds and also 7 blown saves. They are ranked 27th in MLB with a save percentage of 41.7%, and they have dispatched 98 relievers to the hill this season.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have turned 19 double plays and own a fielding percentage of .984 (20th in baseball). The Pirates have recorded 225 assists, 16 errors and have earned a total of 769 putouts on the season. In their 2,307 innings played, the Pirates have a efficiency on defense of 70.8% (9th in baseball).

In his pro baseball career, Ashcraft has allowed 84 base hits while he has tallied 103 strikeouts in 98 frames. He has given up 29 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.189 and having a FIP of 2.6. His K/BB ratio is 3.12 and he has faced 408 opposing hitters so far in his pro baseball career. Ashcraft (5-5 mark in his career) has earned a 2.65 ERA while surrendering 7.7 hits per nine innings.

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

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Pittsburgh (-150) and under 8.5 runs

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