The St. Louis Cardinals host the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 19, 2026. First pitch from Busch Stadium is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on CARD.
The Pirates are -102 on the moneyline and -1.5 on the run line. The Cardinals are -116 on the moneyline and +1.5 on the run line. The total is set at 8 runs.
Find my MLB picks and Pirates vs Cardinals prediction below, as well as probable pitchers, weather report, and more.
Pirates vs Cardinals Prediction
- Pirates vs Cardinals Pick: Cardinals Moneyline (-116)
My Pirates vs Cardinals best bet is on St. Louis to win outright. Make sure to find the best odds by checking our live MLB odds page.
Pirates vs Cardinals Odds
| Pirates Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 +162 | 8 -112o / -108u | -102 |
| Cardinals Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -196 | 8 -112o / -108u | -116 |
- Pirates vs Cardinals moneyline: Pirates -102, Cardinals -116
- Pirates vs Cardinals over/under: 8 (-112o / -108u)
- Pirates vs Cardinals spread: Pirates -1.5 (+162), Cardinals +1.5 (-196)
Pirates vs Cardinals Probable Pitchers
| RHP Mitch Keller (PIT) | Stat | LHP Matthew Liberatore (STL) |
|---|---|---|
| 4-2 | W-L | 2-2 |
| 1.2 | fWAR (FanGraphs) | -0.2 |
| 3.59/4.27 | ERA / xERA | 4.40/5.84 |
| 3.32/3.94 | FIP / xFIP | 5.30/4.58 |
| 11.0% | K-BB% | 7.9% |
| 39.0% | GB% | 36.7% |
| .255 | BABIP | .310 |
| 93 | Stuff+ | 98 |
| 105 | Location+ | 101 |
Pirates vs Cardinals MLB Betting Preview, Pick
Editor's Note: This written best bet is a transcription from the latest episode of the Payoff Pitch podcast.
I’m going with the Cardinals on the moneyline tonight against the Pirates in St. Louis.
The line is about -116. This has been moving in the Cardinals' direction; maybe there's not as big of an edge now as there was this morning when the line was closer to -108, but PRO makes this -127.
It's easy to see why with Matthew Liberatore on the mound against Mitch Keller.
The Pirates are much worse offensively against left-handed pitching; on the season, they have a 110 wRC+ against right-handed pitching but an 84 wRC+ against left-handed pitching. Liberatore is giving up a lot of hits—a .310 BABIP so far—but that’ll come down.
Meanwhile, Mitch Keller is missing fewer bats. He’s got a career-worst K-rate so far and also huge luck in the home run department; he has a 5.9% HR/FB rate this year, whereas his career average is 11.3%.
I think we’re going to see regression in both departments with these starting pitchers: Liberatore’s BABIP is going to regress down to the mean, and Keller is going to start getting hit a little bit more.
There’s definitely value here on the Cardinals considering it’s close to a coin flip.
Pick: Cardinals Moneyline (-116)
