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The Cincinnati Reds wrap up a three-game series at home today against the St. Louis Cardinals as the series is split 1-1. The Reds took game one with emphasis as they won 9-5, but the Cardinals bounced back for game two, winning 6-3. These NL Central rivals will go at it for the tiebreaker today to see who comes out on top. Let's get into the odds and who to bet on.
Here are the Cardinals-Reds MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Cardinals-Reds Odds
St. Louis Cardinals: -1.5 (+102) (-156 ML)
Cincinnati Reds: +1.5 (-122) (+132 ML)
Over: 9.5 (-118)
Under: 9.5 (-104)
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Why The Cardinals Could Cover The Spread
For most of the first half of the season, the Cardinals have been battling with the Brewers for that top spot in the NL Central. Right now, the Cards are still 1.5 games back from the Brew Crew but have an overall record of 51-45. A win today will definitely help them on their journey for the top seed in the division. The Cardinals are pretty middle of the pack when it comes to statistics, including being ranked 18th for the best ERA in the league. Speaking of, Miles Mikolas will look to start on the bump for the Cards today, where he has a record of 7-7 with a 2.54 ERA through 19 starts so far. He'll look to get that much-needed win for St. Louis today.
Why The Reds Could Cover The Spread
Since the horrific start at the beginning of the year, the Reds have basically been a .500 team. On the season as a whole, however, the Reds are still last in the NL Central with a record of 36-58, 16.0 games behind the Brewers. Even though they've been playing pretty decent baseball as of late, they still have the worst team ERA in the league, along with the worst bullpen ERA as well. Starting on the mound today for the Reds will be Tyler Mahle, who is 3-7 so far on the season while throwing a 4.48 ERA. He'll try to win the series and get the Reds back on track to winning ball games.
Final Cardinals-Reds Prediction & Pick
The biggest thing I notice with this matchup is the pitching. Mikolas is a very good pitcher, leading his team is all the important pitching stats, while Mahle (really the Reds pitching as a whole) is more unproven and less scary. I don't love the odds on this game, but it's certainly still a good sweat along with a parlay builder. With that, I'm going to take the Cardinals in this one for the sole purpose that the pitching for the Cards is simply just better, and they can find some hot bats when they really want to. The over is a decent place to look for some value too.
Final Cardinals-Reds Prediction & Pick: Cardinals ML (-156)
