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Pittsburgh Pirates vs St Louis Cardinals Odds, Predictions & Player Props for June 11 Including Skenes Over/Under Strikeouts

Sascha Paruk

by Sascha Paruk in MLB Baseball

Updated Jun 11, 2024 · 8:13 AM PDT

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes delivering a pitch
Jun 5, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
  • Rookie Paul Skenes faces veteran Miles Mikolas in St Louis on Tuesday
  • The Pirates have averaged 9.0 runs per game in Skenes’ first five MLB starts
  • See the Pittsburgh Pirates vs St Louis Cardinals odds, predictions, and props to target on June 11

With rookie phenom Paul Skenes making his sixth career start, the Pittsburgh Pirates (31-34, 15-17 away) visit the St Louis Cardinals (31-33, 15-14 home) on Tuesday night for the first of a three-game set at Busch Stadium at 6:45 pm CT/7:45 pm ET.

The Pirates enter Tuesday off a loss to Minnesota on Sunday but they have won four of their last six and are now just half a game behind the Cardinals in the NL Central. St Louis has alternated wins and losses over its last six games, winning last time out against Colorado.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs St Louis Cardinals Predictions

  • Pirates moneyline (-130) at BetMGM
  • Skenes over 7.5 Ks (+114) at FanDuel
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Skenes has been as advertised since making the jump to the bigs. In five career starts, the 6’6 righty has averaged 99.4 MPH on his four-seam fastball and has a strikeout percentage of 35.5%, which would be the best in the entire MLB if Skenes had enough innings to qualify for the leaderboards. His 3.04 FIP would place him 16th in the majors.

Skenes has recorded at least eight Ks in three of his five starts and at least seven in four of five. The only time he didn’t was against the Giants on May 23, when he was held to just three Ks.

He’s already jumped to second in the National League Rookie of the Year odds, trailing only the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga.

The Cardinals are league-average in terms of striking out; they currently sit 15th in the majors with a K-rate of 22.4%. But they’re nearer the bottom of the league in both wOBA (.303, 21st) and wRC+ (97, 18th), meaning it’s not likely that the STL bats chase Skenes from the game early.

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On the other side, Mikolas has been mediocre at best this season with a 5.32 ERA and 4.59 xERA. His K% of 17.8% puts him just 64th among qualified pitchers.

That said, he has gone at least 6.0 innings in each of his last three starts while allowing just eight total runs (no more than three per start), and he’s actually lowered his ERA by nearly a full run over his last four outings.

But his numbers against the Pirates lineup are ugly. In 119 total at-bats, Pittsburgh hitters are slashing .286/.303/.437 against the 35-year-old righty.Ke’Bryan Hayes is a scorching 8-for-16 with a double and a triple off Mikolas, while Oneil Cruz is 2-for-4 with a double and a triple as well.

Paul Skenes vs Miles Mikolas

Skenes
VS
Mikolas
3-0 Record 4-6
3.00 ERA 5.32
2.79 xERA 4.59
1.00 WHIP 1.28
35.5% K% 17.8%

Pirates vs Cardinals Odds

Team Moneyline Runline Total
Pittsburgh Pirates (Skenes) -130 -1.5 (+136) O 7.5 (-109)
St Louis Cardinals (Mikolas) +110 +1.5 (-162) U 7.5 (-112)

Tuesday’s MLB odds show a decent range for Pirates vs Cardinals. The best price on the Pittsburgh moneyline is -130 at BetMGM – which is where the odds in the table above come from – while the best Cardinals moneyline is +116 at FanDuel.

The game total is 7.5 across the board but bettors can get the over at -105 at ESPN Bet and the under at -110 at bet365, where they can also claim the bet365 promo code.

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