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Brewers vs. Pirates Prediction and Odds for Thursday, April 28 (Bats Are Barking at PNC Park)

By Matt De Saro

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Andrew McCutchen.
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Andrew McCutchen. / Justin Berl/GettyImages
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After a decent start to the 2022 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ true colors are starting to emerge. They are back below .500 after losing five of their last eight games overall. All three of those wins came against a weak Cubs team over the weekend.

Before that, they were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers in three games. 

Milwaukee is hoping to take three more games from their NL Central foes as they grow their lead in the division. The Brewers have now won three of their last four series and I’m not sure the Pirates have the chops to avoid another 3-0 sweep. 

Here are the odds for this game, courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook. 

Brewers vs. Pirates Odds, Run Line, and Total

Run Line

  • Brewers: -1.5 (+100)
  • Pirates: +1.5 (-120)

Moneyline:

  • Brewers -170
  • Pirates +155

Total:

  • 7.5 (Over -115/Under -105)

Brewers vs. Pirates Prediction and Pick

At first glance, the Brewers seem like the obvious choice to take Game 3 from a poor Pirates team. However, with Freddy Peralta on the hill, my confidence in this team isn’t great. Peralta gives the Brewers the worst chance to win out of any other members of the rotation right now.

Peralta enters Thursday with a 7.50 ERA and horrendous 1.75 WHIP. In his last eight innings of work, Peralta has given up seven earned runs on ten hits. He does have a strikeout to walk rate of 2/1, but Peralta is seeing too much contact on his stuff.

Peralta had a breakout in 2021, but one has to wonder if that was a fluke and his career ERA of 4.00 is more in line with his skill set. 

I am willing to take a chance on the Pirates in this spot. Not to win the game outright, but to do some damage to Peralta and the Brewers bullpen. Similarly, I think that the Brewers get out early and do some work on starting pitcher Jose Quintana. With a WHIP of 1.50, Quintana is a big risk on the mound. He has struck out more batters than he walked just once in three starts and I see his 3.86 ERA rising fast if he keeps that up. 

Game 1 of this series saw 20 total runs scored and I think these offenses pick up where they left off on Tuesday. 

Pick: OVER 7.5 (-115)

Follow all of Matt De Saro’s betting picks HERE

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