White Sox at Pirates Prediction: Odds, expert picks, starting pitchers, betting trends and stats for July 18

The White Sox (32-65) are in Pittsburgh to begin life after the All-Star Break with a series against the Pirates (39-58) beginning Friday, July 18.

Jonathan Cannon is slated to take the mound for Chicago against Bailey Falter for Pittsburgh.

This is a series featuring two struggling, last place clubs. The Bucs are entrenched in the cellar in the National League Central. They are 19 games under .500 and 18.5 games behind the Cubs. Nobody has scored fewer runs than Pittsburgh. The Pirates have touched home plate just 326 times (3.3 runs/game) this season.

Chicago is better than last season but still sit 33 games under .500 and 27 games behind the Tigers in the American League Central. The run differential for the White Sox is a robust -98.

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 the 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 White Sox at Pirates

• Date: Friday, July 18, 2025
• Time: 6:40PM EST
• Site: PNC Park
• City: Pittsburgh, PA
• Network/Streaming: CHSN, 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 White Sox at the Pirates

The latest odds as of Thursday:

• Moneyline: White Sox (+144), Pirates (-173)
• Spread: Pirates -1.5
• Total: 8.0 runs

Probable starting pitchers for White Sox at Pirates

• Pitching matchup for July 18, 2025: Jonathan Cannon vs. Bailey Falter
  • White Sox: Jonathan Cannon (3-7, 4.44ERA)
    Last outing: 7/11 vs. Cleveland – 5IP, 2ER, 3H, 3BB, 5Ks
  • Pirates: Bailey Falter (6-4, 3.79ERA)
    Last outing: 7/9 at Kansas City – 4.2IP, 3ER, 6H, 2BB, 3Ks

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Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of White Sox at Pirates

• The Pirates have won their last 5 home games
• The Under is 4-1 in the White Sox’s last 5 road games
• The Pirates are up 2.88 units on the Run Line in their last 5 at home
• Oneil Cruz is riding a 5-game hitting streak (6-16)
• Andrew McCutcheon has a hit in 3 of his last 4 games (3-15)

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!

Expert picks & predictions for Friday’s game between the White Sox 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 Friday’s game between the White Sox and the Pirates:

• Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Pittsburgh Pirates on the Moneyline.
• Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Chicago White Sox at +1.5.
• Total: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play on the over on the Game Total of 8.0.

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

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

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