St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Predictions, Picks and MLB Preview – April 3, 2016

Opening Day is going to start off with a bang, as last year’s No. 1 regular-season team St. Louis Cardinals and their division rival Pittsburgh Pirates open up a three-game series this coming Sunday at the PNC Park.  Which club will make the first statement and notch its first overall victory this season? Read on below for a closer look at this matchup.

Craving for some more baseball action? Well, check out our previews of the two other Opening Day games: New York Mets vs. Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays vs. Tampa Bay Rays.

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St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Preview

Where: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

When: Sunday, April 3, 2016, 1:05 PM ET

Line: St. Louis Cardinals (-113) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (+103); total: 6.5 – view all MLB lines

TV Broadcast: ESPN

Betting on the St. Louis Cardinals (0-0)

St. Louis’ fate rests upon the hands of Adam Wainwright, who’s set to make his fourth-straight Opening Day start and his first MLB start since last April. His campaign in 2015 was relatively forgettable thanks to an Achilles injury that forced him to miss almost the entire season. But Wainwright can now make amends for lost time by putting on a show this coming Sunday against Pittsburgh.

Wainwright went 2-1 with a 1.61 ERA through seven games (four starts) last year, and it’ll be intriguing to see if he can quickly regain his form back. But a game versus the Bucs might be too much for the 34-year-old veteran to handle right now. Wainwright is 11-6 with a 4.29 ERA and a .275 opponents’ batting average across 28 career games in this matchup.

Furthermore, Wainwright’s Spring Training performance is a bit worrisome as well. He has gone 0-2 with a 4.80 ERA in four starts. That’s definitely not a good sign for the Cardinals.

Nonetheless, the Cardinals might be able to compensate for this on offense. Yes, they’re going to look a little bit different without one of their hard-hitters in Jason Heyward, who signed with the Cubs in the offseason, but the three-time defending NL Central division champions  still have a lot of firepower left.

To name a few, there’s Matt Carpenter, Matt Holiday, Jhonny Peralta to deliver the goods for the Cardinals. Carpenter, in particular, will look to lead the charge at the plate, as he’ll try to build on his performance last season, wherein he accumulated team-highs of 28 homers and 84 RBIs along with a respectable batting average of .272.

St. Louis is 5-5 SU and 3-2 OU in its previous five meetings with Pittsburgh.

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Betting on the Pittsburgh Pirates (0-0)

For the second-straight time, Pittsburgh will begin the season coming off a disappointing performance in last year’s playoffs, wherein the Pirates fell short to the Cubs in the NL Wild Card Games. But that’s all in the past now and the third time might just be the charm for the Pirates, who’ll be looking to start their 2016 campaign with a win over St. Louis.

Getting the nod for the Bucs in this Opening Day game will be Francisco Liriano. He did a pretty solid job in 31 starts last season, averaging an ERA of 3.38 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP while also leading the team in strikeouts (205). And more importantly, Liriano is in line for a strong outing  this weekend, as he boasts a 5-2 record with a 2.58 ERA and .193 opponents’ batting in over 12 career starts opposite the Cardinals.

Meanwhile, Liriano won’t be the only one expected to have a good game. The same can be said for the pair of Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte, too. Both are coming off impressive 2015 campaigns, owning batting averages of .292 and .287 respectively.

Marte, specifically, will be the biggest threat to St. Louis. The 27-year-old left-fielder holds a triple-slash line of .323/.362/.431 throughout 17 career games in this matchup.

Pittsburgh is 3-7 SU in its last 10 games at PNC Park.

Writer’s Prediction

St. Louis (-113) wins, 3-1.