St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates, MLB forecast
Win probability
Starts from the pregame forecast, then moves with the score and the time left after each inning. Above the line favors PIT.
Game center
From the ESPN box score.
Top performers
Cardinals- Yohel PozoBatting1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI
- Matthew LiberatorePitching6.1 IP, 5 ER, 7 K
Pirates- Joey BartBatting2-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI
- Carmen MlodzinskiPitching5.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 K
Scoring summary
- 9Winn homered to left center (403 feet).4–8
- 8Walker grounded out to third, Donovan scored, Burleson to second.3–8
- 7Cruz hit sacrifice fly to center, Bart scored.2–8
- 7Bart tripled, McCutchen scored.2–7
- 7McCutchen doubled to center, Hayes scored and Kiner-Falefa scored.2–6
- 6Pozo homered to left (380 feet).2–4
- 5Donovan singled to center, Siani scored, Contreras to third.1–4
- 2Hayes singled to center, Kiner-Falefa scored.0–4
- 2Kiner-Falefa singled to right, Pham scored and Rodríguez scored.0–3
- 1Bart homered to center (411 feet).0–1
The pick
Reconstructed from what was known before the game: the ratings at that point and the closing line.
Cardinals 51%
Forecast Elo ratings alone
How often that comes true: MLB favorites the forecast gave 50–55% have won 52.7% of 2,871 graded games.
- Market
- STL 51%
- ML STL -115 / PIT -105
- Pre-line forecast
- STL 51%
- Elo + market-implied
- Elo ratings
- STL 48%
- Ratings vs. market
- −3.5 pts
- STL: Elo 47.6%, market 51.1%
- Fair odds
- STL -104
- PIT +104 · the forecast as odds, no margin
- Pregame projection
- STL 4.3 – 4.2 PIT
- Margin from the forecast, posted total 8.5
How the number is built
Elo inputs in rating points (higher favors that team; 25–28 Elo is about a point of spread in football and basketball), then how the pieces combine.
| Factor | STL | PIT | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team rating | 1493 | 1471 | Elo entering the game; 1500 is league average |
| Home field | — | +18 | Worth 18 Elo in MLB |
| Starting pitchers | −19 | +3 | STL: Matthew Liberatore: team allows 0.93 more runs than with its usual starter (≈8 weighted starts) · PIT: Carmen Mlodzinski: team allows 0.13 fewer runs than with its usual starter (≈5 weighted starts) |
| Elo ratings | PIT +17 Elo | PIT 52.4% | |
| Market-implied ratings | STL 51.3% | Team strength as past closing lines priced it, same game context | |
| Pre-line forecast | STL 50.8% | 15% Elo, 85% market-implied (log-odds blend) | |
| Forecast | STL 51.1% | Follows the market (vig removed): in testing, adding the ratings made it less accurate | |
Tale of the tape
This season coming into the game, regular season, each number with its league rank (the longer the bar, the higher). Home and road: the host's record at home against the visitor's on the road. Opponent Elo: how strong the teams each has played are, 1st the toughest.
| STL | Stat | PIT |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd of 306.9 | Runs scored | 3.227th of 30 |
| 30th of 306.8 | Runs allowed | 5.426th of 30 |
| 12th of 30+0.1 | Margin | −2.229th of 30 |
| 23rd of 300–3 | Road vs home | 1–222nd of 29 |
| 27th of 301482 | Opponent Elo | 149720th of 30 |
| 20th of 301493 | Elo rating | 147124th of 30 |
Rating history
Each team's Elo over the last two seasons. Hover or drag to compare on any date.
Recent form
Last five results, and whether the forecast hit.
Against the line
How each team has done against the closing spread and total, coming into this game.
| This season |  STL |  PIT |
|---|---|---|
| Run line | 5–4 | 3–7 |
| Last 10 | 5–4 | 3–7 |
| Favorite | 4–2 | 0–3 |
| Underdog | 1–2 | 3–4 |
| Overs–unders | 8–1 | 5–5 |
| Overs–unders, last 10 | 8–1 | 5–5 |
Against each game's closing line. Books set every line knowing these records: across 3,901 past games, the team with the better record against the spread so far that season covered 51.2%, short of the 52.4% a standard −110 bet needs, and over/under streaks held 48.0% of the time. They describe the past.
Head to head
STL 12–14 PIT in their last 26 meetings; the forecast called 14 of 26.