The St. Louis Cardinals will host the Cincinnati Reds for the second of a four-game set. It’s time to continue our MLB odds series and make a Reds-Cardinals prediction and pick.
Cincinnati took the first game of the series by a score of 4-2 on Thursday. Both teams are 5-5 in their last 10 games, which should make this a fairly even weekend series. The Reds are looking to climb the standings, while the Cardinals are looking to surpass the Chicago Cubs and regain the division lead.
Here’s how sportsbooks have set the Reds-Cardinals odds.
MLB Odds: Reds-Cardinals Odds
Cincinnati Reds +1.5 (-170)
St. Louis Cardinals -1.5 (+150)
Over 8.5 Runs (-105)
Under 8.5 Runs (-115)
Why The Reds Could Cover The Spread
The Reds are a young club with a lot of talent that has yet to find the necessary consistency required to be a playoff team. Cincinnati's offense has been one of its main strengths this season. If the pitching staff can turn things around, this team may make some noise late in the season. Cincinnati is averaging 4.87 runs per game, which is good for seventh in the majors. Unfortunately, they are currently last in runs allowed per game at 5.39. The Reds are currently 25-29 and six games back of the Cubs for the division lead.
The Reds will send out right-hander Luis Castillo for the second game of this series. Castillo has all of the talent in the world, but he hasn't been able to put anything together during the young season. He is currently 1-8 with a 7.22 ERA through his first 11 starts. Cincinnati has lost nine straight games with Castillo on the bump. His ERA jumped all the way up to 8.04 in the month of May as well. The flamethrower is coming off one of his best starts of the season and will hope to build some sort of momentum in the month of June.
Why The Cardinals Could Cover The Spread
The Cardinals have been one of the best stories across the league this season. The Cardinals have a rich history and may be returning to form before our eyes. St. Louis has been up-and-down over the past few weeks, though. They were on a solid four-game winning streak at the end of May before hitting a rough spell to begin the month of June. They have slipped out of the top spot in the NL Central and will now look to rebound with a series win against the underwhelming Reds. The Cardinals are 11-5 in their last 16 home games against the Cincinnati Reds.
St. Louis will send out Kwang Hyun Kim for the second game of the series. The Cardinals left-hander is currently 1-3 with a 3.65 ERA over eight starts this season. He put together a solid month of May with a 3.86 ERA over five outings. The southpaw has certainly struggled over his last two starts, though. Kim has given up seven earned runs over 10 2/3 innings of work. The good news for the lefty is that he has seen this Reds team once before this season and pitched well in that start. He struck out eight batters and allowed one earned run over 5 2/3 innings of work in the win.
Final Reds-Cardinals Prediction & Pick
The Reds got off to a good start in this series and will look to gain some more ground on their division rival. Truthfully speaking, it's hard to believe that this Cardinals team will lose two straight games against this Reds staff. Luis Castillo has been so bad and I'm not sold that he's back after a solid last start. With a struggling bullpen behind him, Castillo will need to be great. St. Louis is 15-11 at home this season and should have no problem evening the series at one a piece.
FINAL PICK: St. Louis Cardinals ML (-138)
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