St. Louis Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Reds MLB Picks, Odds, Predictions 7/23/2021
St. Louis Cardinals (49-48) vs. Cincinnati Reds (49-47)
July 23, 2021 7:10 pm EDT
The Line: Cincinnati Reds -144 / St. Louis Cardinals +133; Over/Under: 10
(Get latest betting odds)
The St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds meet in an NL Central division matchup in MLB action from Great American Ballpark on Friday night.
The St. Louis Cardinals will look to build on their 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs from Thursday night. Nolan Arenado had a two-run home run while Dylan Carlson went 3 for 4 with a solo home run to make up the rest of the scoring for the Cardinals in the winning effort. Tommy Edman added a base hit as well as the Cardinals had just five hits as a team in the victory. Kwang Hyun Kim got the win to improve to 6-5 on the year after allowing two runs on two hits while striking out seven over six innings of work. Alex Reyes closed the door for his 23rd save of the season. Wade LeBlanc will start here and is 0-2 with a 4.31 ERA and 19 strikeouts this season. in his career, LeBlanc is 2-0 with a 1.62 ERA and 23 strikeouts against Cincinnati.
The Cincinnati Reds will attempt to bounce back from a 7-0 loss at the hands of the Mets in their last game. Aristides Aqunio had the lone base hit for the Reds in the losing effort, with the rest of Cincinnati’s lineup batting 0 for 24 with 8 strikeouts. Jeff Hoffman took the loss, falling to 3-5 on the year after allowing five runs on seven hits while walking three over four innings of work. Tyler Mahle will start here and is 7-3 with a 3.93 ERA and 126 strikeouts this season. in his career, Mahle is 3-3 with a 4.88 ERA and 49 strikeouts against St. Louis.
St. Louis is 4-0 in their last 4 games as an underdog and 5-14 in their last 19 road games while the over is 12-3-1 in their last 16 Friday games. Cincinnati is 1-5 in their last 6 games overall and 17-7 in their last 24 Friday games while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 games against a left-handed starter.
There are far better options to bet on the board on Friday, but if forced to pick, I’m siding with the over here. Sure, Tyler Mahle has great numbers for the Reds this season, but he’s been obliterated at home with an ERA over six. On the other hand, I don’t trust Wade LeBlanc as far as I can throw him and in that bandbox of a ballpark in Cincinnati, I expect runs to come in bunches. Give me the over.
