The St. Louis Cardinals will look to bolster their win total and reward moneyline bettors when the Pittsburgh Pirates invade Busch Stadium on Friday.

James McDonald gets the ball in front of a hostile crowd for the Pirates on this day; he's 8-6 on the season. The Cardinals, meanwhile, will counter with Jake Westbrook, who will be looking to improve on his 10-7 mark.



View Pittsburgh vs St Louis Odds and Stats.

Betting Line:
St. Louis opened as -165 moneyline favorites in this baseball match, based on the starting pitcher matchup. That pairing made odds makers settle on an Sportsbook over under number of 8.5.

Power Rankings:
This game puts the Cardinals, most recently No. 6 in the National League Odds Shark MLB Power Rankings, up against the Pirates, who rate a National League No. 16 in the latest survey.



How They Match Up:
When it comes to getting on base, the visiting Pirates rank No. 13 in the National League at 8.2 hits per game. That compares with St. Louis’s No. 1 ranking in that category.

Pittsburgh brings the National League's No. 8-rated defense to this matchup, facing the Cardinals' league No. 10-ranked defense.

Pittsburgh lost its last outing, an 8-4 result against the Cardinals on August 25. Bettors who backed the Cardinals at -164 on the moneyline won on the day, and the total score (12) sent OVER bettors to the payout window. The Pirates endured an 8-4 loss at the hands of the Cardinals on Thursday, with Charlie Morton throwing 4 1/3 innings of 9-hit ball at Busch Stadium.




Pittsburgh Pirates Trends:
When playing on Friday are 1-9
Before playing St. Louis are 5-5
After playing St. Louis are 4-6
After a loss are 6-4

St. Louis Cardinals Trends:
When playing on Friday are 6-4
Before playing Pittsburgh are 6-4
After playing Pittsburgh are 5-5
After a win are 4-6

A few Pirates at Cardinals trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Pittsburgh's last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 5 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Pittsburgh's last 7 games when playing St. Louis
Pittsburgh is 7-18 SU in its last 25 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of St. Louis' last 5 games when playing at home against Pittsburgh
St. Louis is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games when playing at home against Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 5 of St. Louis' last 7 games when playing Pittsburgh
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of St. Louis' last 9 games at home


Next up:
Pittsburgh at St. Louis, Saturday, August 27