Pittsburgh Pirates vs Cincinnati Reds Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 03/31/26

The blood runs deep in this rivalry, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh have a long history of acrimony which in itself makes this a game where records don’t matter. Cincinnati may have a more glossy win-loss mark but none of that matters here. Moreover, Pittsburgh’s record is so deceiving that they are favored here regardless of what happened yesterday or in the first four games of this season. The question is how do we extact the value on the Pirates in this spot? The Run Line in this scenario.

Yes, I’ve just taken the Pirates on the Run Line. It seems ludicrous but there are reasons. Let’s talk about the Bucs. They could be 3-1 as easily as they are 1-3 right now. Pittsburgh lost a game in extra innings to the New York Mets that they will rightfully feel like they should have won and they were blanked yesterday in a game where they left 7 runners on base in scoring position where their pitching only gave up two runs. In other words, luck has not been favorable to Pittsburgh, and had it been as such, they would be a significant favorite today where laying the run would be a basic requirement to have any chance at a reasonable wager. Instead, we get them at +140 on said run line. That’s value and if Pittsburgh can cash in on their scoring opportunities there is no reason to believe they can’t cash this ticket either.

Pirates vs Reds prediction: Pirates -1.5 (+140) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.