The St. Louis Cardinals will head east to take on their divisional rival Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Fox Sports Ohio will televise the action and the game will get going at 6:40 p.m. ET.
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Reds Odds
Cincinnati (+115) is coming into this one as the underdog against St. Louis (-125) and Vegas has set the Over/Under for this one at 9 runs (-110 for the under and -110 for the over). Bettors can also wager on the game’s runline with the odds coming in at Cardinals -1.5 runs (+120) and Reds 1.5 runs (-140).
The Reds are just 2-9 SU and 4-6 ATS. The team has lost 5.7 units for bettors taking the moneyline and 3.7 units against the spread (ATS). Cincinnati has a 3-4 ATS mark over its last seven games and the under has hit in four of those seven. The Cardinals are 5-7 SU and have gone 6-5 ATS. Overall, the team’s lost 2.1 units for bettors taking the moneyline this year and 0.0 units ATS. St. Louis has covered the spread four times in its last seven games and the total has gone under in four of those seven.
Cincinnati games have an over/under record of 5-5 so far in 2018. St. Louis has an over/under record of 6-5.
The Cardinals have lost 3.0 units and are 4-4 ATS when facing a right-handed starting pitcher this year. The over has hit in five of those games, compared to three that’ve hit the under in such games. On the other hand, the Reds have lost 3.7 units and are 3-5 ATS when facing a righty starter. The over’s cashed in four of those games, compared to four that went under.
Michael Wacha (1-1, 5.59 ERA) will get the nod for the visiting Cardinals. The right-handed Wacha struck out 158 hitters in 165 innings last year with 55 walks while finishing the season 12-9 overall with a 4.13 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. He made two starts against Cincinnati in 2017 and put together a 2-0 record against the Reds with a 1.50 ERA and 11 strikeouts.
The Reds have tabbed righty Sal Romano (0-1, 5.73 ERA) as their starter. Romano started 16 games last year while finishing the season 5-8 overall with a 4.45 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.
As a unit, Cincinnati’s pitchers have allowed 5.9 runs per game overall this year. The team’s starters have an ERA of 5.34, a WHIP of 1.29 and a strikeouts-per-nine of 6.4. The bullpen has a 5.95 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and 8.5 K/9. In five divisional games, Reds starters have an ERA of 6.04 and the bullpen’s ERA is 4.86.
The Cincinnati offense is putting up 3.1 runs per contest, including 3.2 per game over its last five. The team’s hit .218/.293/.282 over its last five contests and is 1-4 SU during that span.
Third baseman Eugenio Suarez and catcher Tucker Barnhart have led the Reds’ offense so far. Suarez is slashing .296/.424/.630 with eight hits, seven RBIs and five runs scored, and Barnhart’s line is .296/.406/.481 with eight hits, two RBIs and three runs.
Suarez enjoyed hitting against right-handed pitching at home last year. In 229 such plate appearances, he slashed .279/.380/.604 (his overall season line was .260/.367/.461).
In the visiting dugout, St. Louis’ pitchers have allowed 3.8 runs per game and its starting pitchers own a 3.74 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 8.29 K/9. The bullpen has an ERA of 3.48, along with a K-per-9 of 9.15.
Cardinals hitters have slashed .235/.306/.373 on their way to 3.9 runs scored per game this year, including 4.8 runs per game against divisional foes and 3.4 per game over the team’s last five contests (2-3 SU).
St. Louis’ hitters have been led by first baseman Jose Martinez and shortstop Paul DeJong. Martinez is slashing .308/.391/.462 with 12 hits, eight RBIs and three runs scored, while DeJong is slashing .295/.326/.523 with 13 hits, three homers, five RBIs and six runs scored.
Compared to his overall season slash line of .309/.379/.518, Martinez seemed to have a little trouble hitting righties on the road in 2017, putting up a slash line of .257/.333/.371 across 117 such plate appearances.
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Reds MLB Pick
Predictions: SU Winner – Cardinals, ATS Winner – Cardinals, O/U – OVER
Notes
Betting Trends
The Reds have lost six of their last seven games SU.
Cincinnati has posted 19.2 Runs + Hits + Errors per game over its last 10 contests and 18.0 over its last five.
The Cardinals have hit 12 home runs in their last 10 games. The Reds have hit seven over their last 10.
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