St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction, 9/24/2026 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates

Date: Thursday, September 24, 2026

Location: PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA

TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh

Odds/Point Spread: St. Louis (+110) Pittsburgh (-130)

The St. Louis Cardinals (76-81) are headed to PNC Park on Thursday where they will attempt to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates (80-77). The odds on this game have St. Louis at +110 while Pittsburgh is sitting at -130. The over/under is 8.5. The expected starting pitchers are Cooper Hjerpe and Paul Skenes.

St. Louis has a slugging rate of .380 and have been rung up 1,248 times, while drawing a walk on 498 occasions. They have tallied 681 RBI's in addition to 1,278 base knocks on the year, and their batting average is at .241. The Cardinals have tallied 226 doubles as a team and have hit 161 balls out of the park. They have a total of 704 runs while holding a team OBP of .314. As a team, the St. Louis Cardinals are recording 4.5 runs per contest, which has them at 13th in MLB.

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The Cardinals are sitting with a team ERA of 4.28 on the campaign (21st in MLB), and the staff has struck out 1,239 batters. Cardinals pitchers have conceded 155 home runs and 729 total runs (22nd in baseball). Their pitching staff has walked 547 batters and their FIP sits at 4.10 as a unit so far this year. St. Louis has given up 1,350 base hits (8.7 per 9 innings) and 667 earned runs. They have accrued a K/BB ratio of 2.27 and the pitching staff has a collective WHIP of 1.35.

The Cardinals have dispatched 534 relief pitchers to the hill on the year. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 239 runners so far this year and 40.6% of them ended up scoring. The bullpen have accumulated 96 holds on the year (8th in MLB). Cardinals pitchers have stepped onto the hill with runners on 164 times as well as having 195 appearances in high leverage situations. They have recorded 46 saves on the campaign and have blown 30 of their 76 save opportunities. The Cardinals relief pitchers have earned a save percentage of 60.5% and stepped onto the hill in 176 save situations.

The Cardinals have turned 69.0% of balls hit into play into outs in their 12,615 innings on the diamond, ranking them 24th in professional baseball. The St. Louis Cardinals have a total of 4,205 putouts over the course of the season, in addition to 1,473 assists and 74 errors. Their fielding percentage is currently at .987 which ranks 9th in baseball, and have accumulated 149 double plays.

Hjerpe has thrown 9 frames and has tallied 12 punch outs during his career. Hjerpe (1-0 win-loss record in his career) sits with a FIP of 5.91 and he has faced 39 batters during his time in the majors. His earned run average is 6.00 (6 ER's allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.111. He has given up 4 hits (4.0 hits per nine innings) and has 6 walks.

The Pirates hold a team slugging percentage of .405 and they earn 4.78 runs per game (5th in baseball). They have notched 240 doubles, while walking 554 times as well as scoring 750 runs. Pittsburgh has accumulated 181 home runs for the year and 716 runs batted in. They have struck out on 1,456 occasions (4th in baseball) and have earned 1,368 base hits. The Pittsburgh Pirates have tallied an OBP of .331 and a batting average of .254 this season.

The Pittsburgh pitching staff have conceded 719 runs on the year while holding an ERA of 4.16 (648 earned runs yielded). They have given up 150 homers and they relinquish 4.62 runs per 9 innings (19th in MLB). The Pirates are sitting with a team WHIP of 1.298 in addition to having a FIP of 3.82 as a staff for the season. Their strikeout to walk ratio comes in at 9.30 (1,443 strikeouts vs 565 bases on balls). They come in at 12th in the league as a staff in total hits surrendered with 1,253.

Pittsburgh relievers have an inherited score percentage of 32.8% out of their 192 inherited runners. Their relievers have come in 154 times in high leverage situations in addition to 130 occasions with runners on base. With 141 save situations, the Pirates have earned 75 holds and 25 blown saves. They are currently ranked 18th in MLB with a save rate of 60.9%, and they have dispatched 512 relievers to the mound this year.

Out of their 12,612 innings played, the Pirates have a efficiency on defense of 69.0% (25th in MLB). The Pittsburgh Pirates have gotten 126 double plays and own a fielding percentage of .983 (25th in pro baseball). The Pirates have racked up 1,241 assists, 95 errors and have 4,204 putouts this season.

During his career, Skenes has conceded 373 base knocks while he has accumulated 578 strikeouts in 488 innings pitched. Skenes (31-24 career mark) has a 2.64 earned run average while giving up 6.9 hits per 9 innings. He has surrendered a total of 143 earned runs while earning a WHIP of 1.012 and a FIP of 2.6. His strikeout to walk ratio is 4.78 and he has faced 1,936 batters so far in his career.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take St. Louis (+110)

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