Astros at Pirates Prediction: Odds, expert picks, starting pitchers, betting trends, and stats for June 5

It's Thursday, June 5 and the Astros (33-28) are in Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates (23-39). Framber Valdez is slated to take the mound for Houston against Mitch Keller for Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh took Game 2, 3-0 yesterday, a day after Houston won 3-0 in Game 1, so the series is split. The Pirates are going for the seventh two-game winning steak of the season today (tied for longest of the season).

Houston has won five straight starts with Valdez on the mound. He is coming off a complete game performance that earned him the win over the Rays (3 hits, 1 ER).

Lets dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two. We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch tipoff, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.

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Game details & how to watch Astros at Pirates

• Date: Thursday, June 5, 2025
• Time: 6:40PM EST
• Site: PNC Park
• City: Pittsburgh, PA
• Network/Streaming: SCHN, SNP

Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.

Odds for the Astros at the Pirates

The latest odds as of Thursday:

• Moneyline: Astros (-161), Pirates (+135)
• Spread:  Astros -1.5
• Total: 7.0 runs

Probable starting pitchers for Astros at Pirates

• Pitching matchup for June 5, 2025: Framber Valdez vs. Mitch Keller
  
  • Astros: Framber Valdez, (5-4, 3.12 ERA)
    Last outing: 9.0 Innings Pitched, 1 Earned Run Allowed, 3 Hits Allowed, 1 Walk, and 9 Strikeouts
  • Pirates: Mitch Keller, (1-7, 3.73 ERA)
    Last outing: 6.0 Innings Pitched, 3 Earned Runs Allowed, 3 Hits Allowed, 2 Walks, and 1 Strikeouts

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Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Astros and the Pirates

Rotoworld Best Bet

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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.

Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.

Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Thursday’s game between the Astros and the Pirates:

• Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Houston Astros on the Moneyline.
• Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Pittsburgh Pirates at +1.5.
• Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the over on the Game Total of 7.0.

Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC.

Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Astros at Pirates

• The Astros have won 7 of their last 10 games
• With Mitch Keller as the opener 4 of the Pirates' last 5 games have gone under the Total
• The Astros are 5-0 in the last five Valdez starts

If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!

Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:

• Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
• Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
• Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
• Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)