St. Louis Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Reds – 8/23/20 MLB Pick, Odds, and Prediction
2020-08-23 14:15:00 EDT
The Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals meet Sunday in MLB action at Busch Stadium.
The Cincinnati Reds need a win after losing five of their last eight games. The Reds have scored eight runs in their last three games and four or more runs in seven of their last nine games. The Reds have won six of their last nine games when scoring four or more runs. Nick Castellanos leads the Reds with 22 hits and 20 RBI while Jesse Winker and Joey Votto have combined for 39 hits and 18 RBI. Tyler Mahle gets the ball, and he is 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA and 16 strikeouts this season. Mahle is 1-2 with a 5.00 ERA and 29 strikeouts in his career against the Cardinals.
The St. Louis Cardinals need a win after splitting their last 10 games. The Cardinals have scored 10 runs in their last three games and three or less runs in six of their last nine games. The Cardinals have lost four of their last six games when scoring three or less runs. Paul Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals with 17 hits and five RBI while Kolten Wong and Tommy Edman have combined for 25 hits and nine RBI. Daniel Ponce de Leon gets the ball, and he is 0-2 with a 6.14 ERA and 15 strikeouts this season. Ponce de Leon is 0-2 with a 3.77 ERA and nine strikeouts in his career against the Reds.
The Reds are 5-14 in their last 19 during game 4 of a series. The Cardinals are 4-0 in their last 4 during game 4 of a series, 4-10 in their last 14 games as an underdog and 1-4 in their last 5 home games. The under is 6-1-1 in Reds last 8 Sunday games. The under is 4-1 in Cardinals last 5 Sunday games. The Reds are 2-5 in the last 7 meetings in St. Louis and 2-5 in the last 7 meetings.
Tyler Mahle has allowed three runs and three hits in his last 9.1 innings, while Daniel Ponce de Leon has allowed five runs and five hits in 7.1 innings this season overall. Not much of a sample size here to make a strong case for either side with the pitchers, but I’m going with the Cardinals because they’re at home and going against a slumping Reds team that’s having issues finding consistent offense. I can’t lay juice with a team on the road that’s lost five of their last eight games and doesn’t score when they don’t hit homers. Give me the Cards and the even money.
