From Busch Stadium in St. Louis, we have the Reds and Cardinals facing off in an NL Central matchup. This game gets started at 1:15 PM ET, and it is being televised by BSOH.
The forecast for Thursday's matchup calls for cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid to upper 60s. Sonny Gray will start for the Reds, and he is facing off against Jakob Junis. The Cardinals are 3rd in the NL Central, while the Reds are 4th with a record of 71-76.
Cincinnati vs. St. Louis Matchup At A Glance
- Teams: Reds at Cardinals
- Where: Busch Stadium St. Louis
- Date: Thursday, September 12th
- Betting Odds STL -179 | CIN +150 O/U 7.5
Reds vs Cardinals Last Game Recap
It was a low-scoring game in the most recent game of this Cardinals vs Reds series. St. Louis went into the matchup as -150 favorites and squeaked out a 2-1 win. The Cardinals offense only had two more hits than the Reds and struck out 10 times, but still picked up the win.
Cincinnati had a chance to tie or take the lead in the 8th inning, but Ryan Helsley closed things out for the Cardinals. Lance Lynn got the win for St. Louis, going five innings and giving up just one hit and one earned run.
Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt were the only two Cardinals hitters to have more than one hit. Arenado also hit the game's only home run.
Reds Preview
Currently in 4th place in the NL Central, the Reds are 13 games behind the Brewers with a 71-76 overall record. They have gone 21-24 against divisional opponents this season and are looking to take the series lead today, as their overall series record is 18-26-2.
On the run line, Cincinnati is 80-67 this season and has a 45-27 record on the road. Their games have averaged 8.7 runs, resulting in a 67-73 over/under record. The under has hit in five straight Reds games, and the O/U record for games with a 7.5 run total is 9-10.
Cincinnati is sending Jakob Junis to the mound today vs. the Cardinals, and he comes in with a record of 4-0 and ERA of 2.82. Junis has made 21 appearances this season to go along with three starts. In his last outing, he went five innings vs. the Mets, giving up no earned runs and coming away with a no-decision. Looking back over his last four outings, Junis has finished with a no-decision in each one. Opponents are batting .211 this season vs. Junis, and he has a WHIP of .92. Per nine innings, Junis is averaging 6.88 strikeouts and just 1.24 walks.
Elly De La Cruz has been the Reds' top offensive performer this season, as he is batting .259 with a team-leading 23 home runs and 65 RBIs. However, he has struggled of late, going just 3/25 in his last seven games. Overall, the Reds are batting just .232, which is 19th in the league, and are 15th in runs scored at 4.4 per game.
Spencer Steer has also been a good power source for the Reds, as he is 3rd on the team with 19 homers. Jeimer Candelario is 2nd on the team in homers but is batting just .225 for the season. Ty France has gone 8/27 in his last seven games, and he is also on a five-game hitting streak.
Cardinals Preview
St. Louis has won three straight series on the road and is 39-37 as underdogs this season. Their overall over/under record is 69-72, with the over hitting in 73.8% of their games. The under has gone 11-21 when the total line is 7.5 runs, which is the O/U line for today's game.
The Cardinals are 38-35 at home and 35-37 on the road, and they are 24-25 straight up as home favorites. In the NL Central, they are 22-25 against divisional opponents and are currently 3rd in the division, 10 games behind the Brewers.
Sonny Gray gets the start for the Cardinals today and comes in with a record of 12-9 and an ERA of 3.84. In his 26 starts, Gray has turned in 12 quality starts and is averaging 10.82 strikeouts per nine innings. Gray's last outing came against the Brewers, where he went seven innings, giving up one earned run on four hits. He finished with seven strikeouts in that outing. Before that, he had given up at least two homers in three straight starts. Gray has lost two straight starts and is winless in his last three outings.
Heading into today's game, the Cardinals are averaging just 4.1 runs per game, which is 24th in the league. They have been slightly better at home, averaging 4.2 runs per contest. One of the reasons they have struggled to score runs is that they are near the bottom of the league in home runs and have a team slugging percentage of just .388 (18th).
Paul Goldschmidt and Alec Burleson are both tied for the team lead with 21 home runs this season. Burleson has also driven in the most runs for the Cardinals this season, with 73 RBIs. Goldschmidt is 4th on the team with 59 RBIs. Goldschmidt is also on a three-game hitting streak and has gone deep once in his last six games, while Nolan Arenado has also homered in his last six games while going 6/19.
Reds vs. Cardinals Prediction: Reds ML +150
We see a lot of value in taking the Reds on the money line at +150. Our predicted final score is 6-5 in favor of the Reds, meaning there is a lot of value in taking them to win outright.
Looking at the starting pitchers, we do have Sonny Gray finishing with more strikeouts than Jakob Junis, but Gray is projected to finish with just seven K's. Offensively, we have the Reds finishing with 11 strikeouts and the Cardinals with seven.
