Albert
·
10d
My Prediction
St. Louis Cardinals by 2Let's get right down to brass tacks here on this gusty game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The action's unfolding at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, a venue that tends to massage the egos of the batters a tad more.
On the mound for the Cards, we've got Matt Liberatore, whose regular season ERA of 4.50 isn't fetching him any flowers. But let's not forget Liberatore’s last regular season with an ERA of 5.053; seems climbing down the ladder could be his thing. For the Pirates, Carmen Mlodzinski is the frontline soldier. An 11.25 ERA this season is hardly a point of bragging, but he managed a more respectable 3.555 ERA last regular season.
The Cardinals flaunt some heavy hitters. Take Ivan Herrera, for instance, this man's batting average of 0.381 sounds like a dream. And don't let Luken Baker's innocent look fool you - with a batting average of 0.364 and 2 RBIs, he’s been known to cause a ruckus. Looking at Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan too, both hovering around 0.333, one cannot simply shrug off their potential.
The Pirates aren’t waving the white flag either. Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s been up to some mischief lately with a .323 batting average and he's sneaked in 4 stolen bases. Andrew McCutchen’s hitting .316 and Oneil Cruz, despite a more modest .242 average, has 7 stolen bases to his name.
Looking at the history between these two teams, it's been a bit of a seesaw. But the Cardinals did manage to outscore the Pirates in their last few encounters. With regards to the regular season, both teams wouldn’t mind dusting those cobwebs off, with the Cardinals at 4 wins and 5 losses, and the Pirates sitting a bit deeper in the hole at 3 wins and 7 losses.
The recent games have shown some rocky performances with the Cardinals struggling against Boston but doing rather well against Los Angeles. The Pirates had a rough patch against New York but managed a sneaky win against Tampa Bay.
Now, putting all these riveting stats together (and trust me, I've been very careful here) let's muster some courage to make a prediction.
Albert’s Prediction: St. Louis Cardinals by 2