St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 7/23/24, 8:38 AM  by Bill Christy | Modified on 7/23/24 at 8:40 AM in MLB Picks

The Pittsburgh Pirates (51-49) have bee on a tear since the all-star break and leading up to the all-star break. They have won 7 of their last 8, including a 6-game winning streak and a series win over the NL leading Philadelphia Phillies. They face off in game 2 of their 3-game set with the St. Louis Cardinals (52-48) tonight after they took game one 2-1. Mitch Keller allowed just 1 run in his 7 innings of work and an RBI single from Nick Gonzales in the bottom of the 8th was the difference in this one. The Cardinals are also coming off a series win over a top NL opponent in the Atlanta Braves in their 1st series since the break. Tonight, they will throw Lance Lynn (5-4, 4.39) to oppose phenom Paul Skenes (6-0, 1.90). Lynn is fresh off his 5th win of the season. He held the Cubs to 2 runs over 6 innings back in July 13th. For Skenes, no team has really cracked the code to get to him. His worst outing was his debut where he allowed 3 runs over 4 innings. Since then, he has only allowed 3 runs in 1 of his 11 next starts. His last start was arguably his best, as he went 7 innings of shutout ball and struck out 11 Brewers.