Steve Merril | MLB Total
dime bet – 958 STL / 957 PIT – UNDER 7
Analysis:
Pittsburgh will play in St. Louis on Sunday Night Baseball. The Pirates will start Gerrit Cole who is 15-8 with a terrific 2.69 ERA and an excellent 1.14 WHIP in 27 starts this season. The Under is 16-9 in those games. Cole has a 2.55 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 14 road starts; the Under is 9-4 in those games. Cole has a solid 3.26 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in eight career starts against St. Louis. In two starts against the Cardinals this season, Cole has given up 6 runs on 13 hits in 12.1 innings of work. Jason Heyward (2-10), Yadier Molina (2-15), and Kolten Wong (4-17) have all struggled versus Cole. The Cardinals are 43-22 to the Under at home this season, and there’s nothing to suggest that this game will be any different.
St. Louis will start John Lackey in this game. Lackey is 8-3 with a tremendous 1.89 ERA and a fantastic 1.14 WHIP in 14 home starts this season. Lackey comes into this game in good current form; he has given up just 6 earned runs on 20 hits in his last 19 innings of work. Lackey has given up just 2 earned runs on 11 hits in 12.2 inning pitched to the Pirates this season. Pedro Alvarez (2-8), Starling Marte (2-8), Jordy Mercer (2-9), Aramis Ramirez (1-12), and Neil Walker (2-8) have all struggled versus Lackey. Both bullpens are really good, so Cole and Lackey have plenty of support on the backend should they need it in this game. We expect a low-scoring game between the Pirates and Cardinals on Sunday night.
1* Play UNDER the total.