This is an 8* play on PITTSBURGH

The Pirates are seeking to avoid a sweep early this afternoon as they've lost the first three games of this series with the Cardinals. Two of the losses were by one run, so it's not like they haven't been competitive. They did lose 14-8 last night with St. Louis hitting five homers. But this one comes down to the home vs. road splits of Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas. On July 15th, we played the Under with Mikolas starting at home against these same Pirates. He threw a complete game shutout and the Cardinals won 7-0. But we went against him on July 20th at Cincinnati as his numbers simply aren't good on the road. Sure enough, the team lost that game, dropping Mikolas to 1-6 in starts made away from home with a 7.04 ERA and 1.63 WHIP. Joe Musgrove opposed Mikolas in that July 15th start and took the loss, but he was much better here at home last week when he threw six strong innings of two-hit ball. The only run he allowed was unearned. We're willing to bank on Mikolas' road struggles continuing and for Pittsburgh to avoid the sweep. Play on PITTSBURGH

AAA