Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, 8/20/2021 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals

Date: Friday, August 20, 2021

Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

TV: Bally Sports Midwest

Odds/Point Spread: Pittsburgh (+170) St. Louis (-222)

Busch Stadium is the site where Miles Mikolas and the St. Louis Cardinals (61-58, 3rd in NL Central) will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates (42-79, 5th in NL Central) on Friday. The line on this matchup has the Pirates priced at +170 and the Cardinals are at -222. The total has been set at 7.5. The starting pitchers will be Mitch Keller and Miles Mikolas.

Pittsburgh has a slugging rate of .359 and have struck out 989 times, while taking a walk on 373 occasions. They have accumulated 407 RBI's and 931 hits for the year, and their team batting average sits at .233. The Pirates have accrued 186 doubles as a squad and have hit 92 baseballs out of the park. They have earned 431 runs scored and have an on-base percentage of .303. As a unit, the Pittsburgh Pirates are recording 3.6 runs per game, which has them sitting at 30th in the league.

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The Pirates are sitting with a team ERA of 5.09 for the year (28th in MLB), and the staff has rung up 983 batters. They have walked 448 hitters and their FIP comes in at 4.71 as a squad for the season. Their strikeout to walk ratio is 2.19 and their pitching staff has a team WHIP of 1.41. Pirates pitchers have given up 157 long balls and 622 total runs (27th in MLB).

Pirates pitchers have gone to the mound with opponents on base 90 times in addition to having 88 appearances in high leverage situations. The relievers have racked up 47 holds on the year (27th in MLB). The Pirates bullpen have a save percentage of 57.7% and has entered the game in 76 save situations. They have tallied 15 saves over the course of the season and have blown 11 out of their 26 save opportunities. The relief pitchers have inherited 152 runners for the year with 32.9% of those runners crossed the plate. The Pirates have dispatched 415 relief pitchers to the mound for the year.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a tally of 3,109 putouts this season, in addition to 1,029 assists and 58 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .986 which has them sitting 6th in the majors, and they have twisted 853 double plays. The Pirates have converted 69.0% of baseballs in play into outs out of 9,327 innings on the field, which has them ranked 21st in MLB.

Keller (5-16 win-loss mark in his career) has earned a FIP of 4.51 while he has gone up against 609 batters in the major leagues. He has surrendered 161 hits (11.0 hits per 9 innings) and has 68 free passes. His ERA is 6.30 (92 earned runs allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.744. Keller has pitched in 131 innings and has earned 141 strikeouts so far in his career.

St. Louis has tallied 131 home runs this year to go along with 466 RBIs. They have recorded 187 doubles, while taking a walk 359 times as well as putting up 486 runs. The St. Louis Cardinals hold a team OBP of .309 and a team batting average of .237 over the course of the season. The Cardinals have a slugging percentage of .391 and they are earning 4.08 runs per game (25th in MLB). They have been rung up on 978 occasions (26th in the league) and are sitting with 931 hits.

The Cardinals have a WHIP of 1.329 in addition to having a FIP of 4.35 as a squad this season. Their strikeout to walk ratio sits at 1.92 (915 strikeouts against 477 bases on balls). They are sitting at 8th in the league as a pitching staff in total hits surrendered with 907. They have given up 107 homers and they concede 4.42 runs per 9 innings (14th in the league). The St. Louis pitching staff have conceded 511 runs for the season while having an ERA of 4.09 (473 earned runs yielded).

St. Louis has called on relievers to take the mound in 46 save opportunities and they have walked away with 33 saves. They are ranked 2nd in the league holding a save rate of 71.7%, and they have sent 408 relief pitchers to the mound on the campaign. Their bullpen pitchers have stepped onto the mound 109 times in high leverage situations and also on 128 occasions with base runners. St. Louis relievers hold an inherited score percentage of 36.9% out of 217 inherited base runners. Sitting with 116 save situations, the Cardinals have tallied 68 holds and also 13 blown saves.

The St. Louis Cardinals have twisted 92 double plays and hold a fielding percentage of .984 (17th in the majors). The Cardinals have racked up 1,091 assists, 67 errors and are sitting with 3,124 putouts on the campaign. Out of their 9,372 innings on the field, the Cardinals have accumulated a defensive efficiency of 71.1% (4th in professional baseball).

In his pro baseball career, Mikolas has allowed 478 base hits while he has tallied 355 punch outs in 480 innings pitched. He has given up 203 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.196 and having a FIP of 4.0. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.70 and he has gone up against 1,995 hitters in his pro baseball career. Mikolas (31-24 career mark) holds a 3.81 earned run average and has conceded 9.0 hits per 9 innings.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Pittsburgh (+170)

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