Cardinals vs. Pirates Prediction and Odds for Friday, May 20 (Wainwright's Dominance over Pirates Continues)

The 20-18 St. Louis Cardinals dropped three of four to the Mets but welcome an easier series with the 16-21 Pittsburgh Pirates, beginning today at 6:35 PM EST.

Pittsburgh's offense has struggled to a laughable degree, following up a game in which they won despite not recording a hit by getting shut out in two straight. They managed a 3-2 victory over the Cubs in their last contest, but things are bad right now for this lineup.

Zach Thompson is tasked with giving the Pirates' offense a chance and he's been splendid this month. In his last two starts (both against the Reds), he's only allowed three hits over 11 scoreless innings while striking out nine and walking three.

St. Louis will counter with Adam Wainwright, who has three consecutive quality starts and threw six scoreless innings against Pittsburgh in his first start of the season.

Can Wainwright stay hot or will the Pittsburgh bats finally wake up to give the home squad a victory?

Here are the odds from WynnBET Sportsbook to help us pick a winner and find some value in this Cardinals vs Pirates matchup:

Cardinals vs Pirates Odds, Run Line and Total

Run Line:

• Cardinals -1.5 (+112)
• Pirates +1.5 (-135)

Moneyline:

• Cardinals: -141
• Pirates: +131

Total:

• 9.0 (Over -110/Under -110)

Cardinals vs Pirates Prediction and Pick

Adam Wainwright has owned Pittsburgh of late. It's kind of ridiculous, actually. He's won nine consecutive starts against the Pirates, amassing a 1.20 ERA over 60 innings in that stretch. In his last four outings against Pittsburgh, he's hasn't allowed a single run in 30 innings.

The Pirates have scored a grand total of nine runs in their previous seven games, so scoring even one run today would almost feel like a miracle. Wainwright is as good as ever too, ranking in the 89th percentile in hard hit percentage and 77th in curve spin.

But his counterpart, Zach Thompson, has been good lately as well. He hasn't allowed a run yet in May and is in the 73rd percentile in average exit velocity and showing increased stamina throughout the Month.

But it's impossible to ignore Wainwright's success against the Pirates. I've got a trio of bets on this game as a result.

First, the Cardinals are oozing with value at -141. Again, Wainwright has won nine consecutive starts against Pittsburgh. The Pirates haven't even been good enough to force a no-decision. That's bananas. Dating back to last season, the Cardinals are 17-5 in their last 22 as a road favorite. They'll get the win today.

That being said, I also like the Pirates team total under 4.0 (-120) and the under 9.0 for the game. Pittsburgh hasn't scored more than four in seven straight, and they have four runs combined in their last eight contests against Wainwright.

Regarding the game under, Thompson should do enough to slow the Cardinals down and as long as the Pirates' offense is non-existent, the under will be a valuable bet. It's 6-2 over their last eight games and 9-17-3 when they're an underdog. Expect St. Louis to prevail with a score somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-1.

Pick: Cardinals (-141), Pirates Team Total Under 4.0 (-120) and Under 9.0 (-110)

Follow all of Joe Summers' betting picks here.