St. Louis Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Reds Betting Preview
Where: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH
When: Monday, June 5, 2017, 7:10 PM ET
Line: St. Louis Cardinals (-139) at Cincinnati Reds (+129); total: 9.5 – view all MLB lines
TV Broadcast: MLB Network, FS-M, FS-O
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Betting on the St. Louis Cardinals (26-28)
Losing traction in the NL Central standings yet again are the St. Louis Cardinals, who got swept by the Chicago Cubs in three games with a loss on Sunday, 7-6.
It was the first time that St. Louis scored five or more runs since the team’s 6-1 win over the Dodgers on May 25. However, those six runs on Sunday weren’t enough to prevent the sweep at the hands of the reigning World Series champs, spoiling the return of third baseman Jedd Gyorko from his two-game paternity leave.
Stephen Piscotty’s three-run homer on Sunday was nice and all, but the Cardinals really need their star batter in Matt Carpenter to snap out of his funk. Carpernter, the team’s leader in home runs and and runs batted-in, has only six hits along with 10 strikeouts over his last 35 at-bats. He’s also failed to go yard and send one of his teammates to home plate during that stretch.
Luckily for the Cards, they’ll have Carlos Martinez (4-4, 3.08 ERA) to start things on the mound this Monday. The Dominican righty is looking for his eighth-consecutive quality start, having just held the Dodgers to one run in eight superb innings of work last Wednesday. Martinez also has nine Ks in each of his last two starts, making him capable of doing the heavy lifting for his team to kick off the working week.
Betting on the Cincinnati Reds (25-30)
The Cincinnati Reds are in a familiar situation as their division rivals heading into their four-game homestand against the Cardinals. Their 13-8 loss on Sunday to the lowly Atlanta Braves marks their fifth defeat in six games, and their woes can be blamed on their pitching corps, which has given up an average of 8.17 runs to the opposition during that span.
Expect another unreliable pitching performance from Monday’s starter in Asher Wojciechowski (1-0, 5.63 ERA). Wojciechowski made his first start for Cincinnati last Tuesday, lasting just four innings against a Blue Jays team that jumped him for three home runs in his final inning of work.
The Reds’ offense needs some work as well. Seven of their eight runs scored on Sunday were courtesy of just two players: infielders Zack Cozart (two homers, five runs) and Arismendy Alcantara (two-run blast). On the bright side, the team as a whole is hitting .283 against St. Louis’ Martinez, with Cozart and Adam Duvall combining for a .375 batting average and with slugger Joey Votto having seven walks in 14 at-bats versus the Dominican.
Then again, Cincinnati will indefinitely have a couple of holes in its batting order as well. Outfielders Billy Hamilton and Scott Schebler – the team’s leader in stolen bases and home runs, respectively – are still banged up from their similar shoulder injuries sustained on Saturday. With that in mind, there may not be enough runners on-base that’ll be able to support the Reds’ other standouts against Martinez this Monday.
Writer’s Prediction
The Cardinals (-139) take the first bout of their four-game set in Cincy, 5-3.
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