Pittsburgh Pirates vs San Francisco Giants Prediction, Odds and Picks for Friday, 05/08/26

The Pittsburgh Pirates have started the month of May off strong, going 5-1, as they look to keep things rolling against a reeling San Francisco Giants team. The Giants have now lost 8 of their last 10 games and are sitting in the basement of the NL West. Looking to turn things around, they’ll hand the ball over to the southpaw Robbie Ray, who enters at 2-4 with a 2.95 ERA. Ray hasn’t been bad this season, but with the lack of run support his team has to offer, it puts Ray in a tough spot against a much better Pirates team. 

Pittsburgh will hand the ball over to Carmen Mlodzinski, who enters at 2-2 with a 4.76 ERA. Mlodzinski started the season strong. However, in his last 3 games, he’s struggled from the mound — going 1-2 with a 9.22 ERA. Offensively, the Pirates average 5 runs per game and hit .262, while the Giants are hitting .206 and average 2.4 runs.

It’s hard to trust Mlodzinski in this matchup, but it’s also hard to trust the Giants with the way their offense has been producing. Taking everything into consideration, I’m leaning towards the over. The Giants offense could potentially come to life against Mlodzinski, who has struggled on the mound in recent starts, and I think Ray will give up a few runs to the Pirates in this matchup. Look for both teams to do enough offensively.

Pirates vs Giants prediction: Over 7.5 (-115) at time of publishing. Playable up to over 8. 

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