The Pittsburgh Pirates host the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, June 30. First pitch from PNC Park is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET; the game will be broadcast on SportsNet PT and MLB.TV.
The Pirates and Cardinals are fresh off dominating their previous series against the Mets and Guardians, respectively., In this NL Central clash, the Cardinals enter as -125 road favorites with an 8.5-run total.
Find my Cardinals vs Pirates prediction and MLB betting preview below, as well as probable pitchers, betting trends, injury reports and more.
St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction, Picks
- Cardinals vs. Pirates Pick: Pirates ML
My Pirates vs. Cardinals best bet is on Pittsburgh ML. Make sure to find the best odds by checking our live MLB odds page.
Cardinals vs Pirates Odds, Spread, Lines
| Cardinals Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Run Line | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 +151 | 9 -104o / -117u | -108 |
| Pirates Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Run Line | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -185 | 9 -104o / -117u | -113 |
Cardinals vs Pirates Projected Pitchers
| LHP Andrew Heaney (PIT) | Stat | RHP Erick Fedde (STL) |
|---|---|---|
| 3-7 | W-L | 3-7 |
| 0.3 | fWAR (FanGraphs) | 0.6 |
| 4.48 / 4.74 | ERA / xERA | 4.11 / 5.26 |
| 4.86 / 4.52 | FIP / xFIP | 4.49 / 5.06 |
| 1.25 | WHIP | 1.36 |
| 9.4% | K-BB% | 5.1% |
| 37.8% | GB% | 38.3% |
| 93 | Stuff+ | 91 |
| 101 | Location+ | 105 |
Cardinals vs Pirates MLB Betting Preview
St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview
After sweeping the Guardians in Cleveland over the weekend, the Cardinals will look to continue their highly successful road trip.
This time, the Cardinals have a chance to improve on their 4-2 record against Pittsburgh.
Things began trending in the wrong direction for Erick Fedde in his most recent outing, allowing seven runs over 3 2/3 innings against the Cubs. The Cubs' offense is far better than the Pirates. That's not a debatable subject, but the Cubs exposed some weaknesses that the Pirates can exploit.
The biggest thing the Cubs exposed is Fedde's non-existent swing-and-miss stuff (5.85 K/9) and dicey command (3.90 BB/9). That’s the primary reason why Fedde has a shaky 5.24 xERA and 4.49 FIP.
Fedde’s K/BB isn’t the only head-scratcher in his profile. He also ranks in the 18th percentile among qualified pitchers in average exit velocity allowed and 10th in xBA allowed.
I can’t justify backing a pitcher who gets hit incredibly hard and doesn’t throw enough strikes. That’s just an awful formula.
Since June 15th, the Cardinals rank 16th among MLB lineups with a 107 wRC+. They put the ball in play a ton, ranking 23rd in walk rate, and have an 18.9% strikeout rate across those 13 games.
Alec Burleson has caught fire of late, cracking five homers in the last two weeks. He's one of the better hitters in the Cardinals' lineup, but he's a non-factor versus southpaws. Another big one is Brendan Donovan, who has a .605 OPS against lefties and right-handed hurlers surrender a .892 OPS against him.
The lone hitter with a wRC+ better than 100 versus left-handers is Willson Contreras. There would be another if stud catcher Ivan Herrera were healthy. Alas, he and his 221 wRC+ are on the IL.
Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Preview
Let's give some credit to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who out-scored the Mets, 30-4 in their dominating sweep.
None of the games were even remotely close, and the Pirates scored at least nine runs in each contest. That's the definite bright spot of the Pirates’ otherwise nightmarish 2025 season.
On the Pirates' side, they'll hope the good Andrew Heaney shows up on Monday.
He's been inconsistent all year. He's allowed 14 runs across his past two starts. But in the prior three starts, Heaney went 5 2/3 or more in each outing and allowed six total runs.
Overall, Heaney doesn't boast particularly impressive numbers, posting a 4.48 ERA with a 4.86 FIP.
He's completely altered his pitching style with Pittsburgh. Heaney has posted a declining strikeout rate the past few years, but he punched out 8.94 batters per nine in 2024. In 2025, Heaney is striking out just 6.67 per nine, the lowest he's posted since 2015.
Heaney has also posted significantly better numbers at the friendly confines of PNC Park. He has an outstanding 2.95 ERA in seven home outings, compared to a 5.79 ERA in nine road games.
The good news for Pirates bettors? Heaney is back home.
Is the Pirates’ 30-run outburst over three days more about the Mets’ pitching or can we begin to look at Pittsburgh's lineup differently?
Over their past 12 games, their 82 wRC+ ranks 26th among MLB lineups. The troubling issue is the Pirates lack of power, hitting just six homers across those 12 games with a terrible .092 isolated power.
I won't buy into the Pirates hitting for very long, but I'm all about fading Fedde.
I’m not willing to call the Pirates a top-15 offense in baseball, but one player in particular can boost their ceiling.
That is former All-Star Bryan Reynolds, who’s hitting .419 over his last seven games with a pair of homers. He’s batting just .239 this year with an 89 wRC+. If he stays hot, that would be huge for the Pirates offense.
Cardinals vs Pirates Pick, Best Bets
I'm rolling with the Pirates here.
Heaney should be able to neutralize the Cardinals' bats with his fly-ball-heavy approach. They don't hit for much power, and as I said earlier, don't hit lefties much in general.
Similarly, the Pirates won't be able to win this game with power and homers. However, they have enough contact bats to string hits together and derail Fedde's outing.
Pick: Pirates ML
