Cincinnati Reds at St. Louis Cardinals Betting Odds
Opening Moneyline: Reds +116/ Cardinals -126 O/U 8 runs
Game Time: 8:15 PM EST Friday April 22, 2011
First place in the NL Central is at stake tonight when they defending division champion Reds travel to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals. After stumbling out of the gates the Cardinals have caught fire and they have won 2 straight and are 7-3 in their last 10 games and the Reds are coming off a win, but are only 4-6 in their last 10 games. The Cardinals have owned the Reds at home recently, as they are 10-0-1 in their last 11 series’ against them at Busch Stadium. Last season the Cardinals beat the Reds in 12 of the 18 games they faced them.
In their last games the Cardinals blanked the Washington Nationals 5-0 and the Reds beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-4.
This season the Cardinals are only 4-5 at home and the Reds are 3-3 on the road.
So far on the season the Cardinals have an O/U record of 10-8-1 and a runline WL record of 11-8 and the Reds have an O/U record of 11-8 and a runline W/L record of 9-10.
Don’t think the Under is a good pick in this game since the Reds have scored the most runs in the Majors this season while the Cardinals have scored the 2nd most. While the Cardinals pitching has been pretty good (10th in team ERA), the same cannot be said about Cincinnati’s pitching staff with the league’s 21st ranked team ERA.
On the hill tonight for the Cardinals is Kyle McClellan (2-0 1.89 ERA), who in his last start only gave up 1 earned run in 7 innings of work against the Dodgers. Taking the mound for the Reds is Edinson Volquez (2-0 6.75 ERA), who in his last outing gave up 6 earned runs in 5 innings against the Pirates in getting a no-decision.
McClellan was in the bullpen for 3 seasons with the Cardinals before becoming a starter this season because of the injury to Adam Wainwright. In his career he has an ERA of 2.95 in 19 appearances against Cincinnati.
Volquez is 1-1 with a 4.98 ERA in 4 career starts against the Cardinals.
Getting off to a good start is vital for both pitchers, as each has struggled early in games this season. Opponents are hitting .320 against McClellan the first time through the order and opponents are hitting .565 in their initial at-bats against Volquez.
Albert Pujols is 3 for 7 with 2 HR and 4 walks against Volquez in his career and after a slow start he is hitting .351 with 5 homers and 10 RBIs in his last 9 games. Matt Holliday is also on fire hitting over .530 in his last 7 games.
The Reds have 4 players hitting over .350 led by last season’s MVP Joey Votto, who leads the NL in batting at .418.
In some betting trends for this NL Central match up:
Cincinnati is 1-4 in their last 5 games against a right-handed starter, 9-2 in Volquez’s last 11 starts as a road underdog, and the have an Under record of 5-2 in their last 7 games as a road underdog.
St. Louis is 4-1 in their last 5 games against a right-handed starter, 6-2 in their last 8 games, and have an Over record of 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.
The Reds have only won one game in their last 7 against the Cardinals.
Our Selection : The Cardinals after a shakey start have won 6 of their last 8 and you certainly can't expect much better pitching than K. McClellan has done in his first 3 starts. We hate laying money, but the Reds have cooled out after a fast start losing 6 of their last 8. Take St. Louis -126 at Bodog.
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