Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA

Arizona Diamondbacks vs Pittsburgh Pirates: Who is winning the series today?

The Arizona Diamondbacks are visiting the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Sunday.

The Diamondbacks have picked up their form

The Arizona Diamondbacks are third in the NL West with a 59-52, including 28-27 on the road which puts them only five games behind the leading Los Angeles Dodgers. They have won 8 of the last 10 games. Arizona has a 4.52 ERA, a .258 batting average, a .324 on-base percentage, and 1.34 walks plus hits per inning pitched. Ketel Marte is the best player on the team, with 124 hits, 76 runs, and 26 home runs so far in the season.

The Pirates have split the last ten games

The Pittsburgh Pirates are third in the NL Central with a 56-54 record including 27-27 at home. After losing back-to-back games, they won 4-2 last night against the Diamondbacks. The Pirates have a 3.83 ERA, a .243 batting average, a .314 on-base percentage, and 1.28 walks plus hits per inning pitched. Bryan Reynolds leads the team with 122 hits and 19 home runs while Andrew McCutchen is on top with 55 runs.

Betting Trends

The Pirates are 12-6 SU in their last 18 games overall, 6-14 SU in their last 20 games against Arizona and 4-1 SU in their last 5 games played in August. Pittsburgh has gone over the total run line in 5 of the last 7 games overall, and has stayed under in 6 of their last 7 games at home and in 7 of their last 10 games against teams from the NL. The Diamondbacks are 8-2 SU in their last 10 games overall, 7-3 SU in their last 10 games against the Pirates, and 7-3 SU in their last 10 games on the road. Arizona has played over the total run line in 6 of their last 7 games overall and in 4 of their last 5 games against teams from the NL.

Prediction and Conclusion

The Diamondbacks split the first two games of the series, with Arizona winning the opener 9-8 and then the Pirates responding with a 4-2 win. That was only the third Pirates’ win in the last 10 games against Arizona. Tonight, Pittsburgh will have Paul Skenes on the mound, who is 6-1 for the season with a 1.90 ERA, 103 K, 80.2 IP, and 0.90 WHIP. The Diamondbacks will go with Ryne Nelson, who is 8-6 for the season with a 4.53 ERA, 79 K, 105.1 IP, and 1.36 WHIP. Both pitchers are pretty solid this season, so we do not expect much scoring today, and we go with under 8.5 runs in total.