Cincinnati Reds (82-78) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (60-100)
October 2, 2021 6:35 pm EDT
The Line: Pittsburgh Pirates +140 / Cincinnati Reds -185; Over/Under: +8
(Get latest betting odds)
The Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates meet Saturday in MLB action at PNC Park. The Reds look for a win after splitting their last 10 games. The Pirates need a win after losing six of their last nine games.
The Cincinnati Reds have scored four runs in their last three games and three or less runs in four of their last eight games. The Reds have lost six straight games when scoring three or less runs. Nick Castellanos leads the Reds with 162 hits and 97 RBI while Jonathan India and Jesse Winker have combined for 271 hits and 140 RBI. Tyler Mahle gets the ball, and he is 13-6 with a 3.54 ERA and 204 strikeouts this season. Mahle is 4-4 with a 3.27 ERA and 50 strikeouts in his career against the Pirates.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have scored 11 runs in their last three games and four or more runs in five of their last nine games. The Pirates have won nine of their last 13 games when scoring four or more runs. Bryan Reynolds leads the Pirates with 165 hits and 89 RBI while Kevin Newman and Ke’Bryan Hayes have combined for 209 hits and 77 RBI. Max Kranick gets the ball, and he is 2-3 with a 6.23 ERA and 30 strikeouts this season. This will be Kranick’s first career game against the Reds.
The Reds are 1-5 in their last 6 during game 2 of a series and 1-6 in their last 7 road games. The Pirates are 5-2 in their last 7 during game 2 of a series and 2-6 in their last 8 overall. The under is 15-5-1 in Reds last 21 road games. The over is 4-1-1 in Pirates last 6 Saturday games. The Reds are 9-22 in the last 31 meetings in Pittsburgh and 21-7 in the last 28 meetings.
I don’t like laying big juice in battles between two teams that have nothing to play for this time of year, but we’re not being asked to lay a crazy price with Mahle on the hill. Mahle has been solid all year, and he’s allowed just 24 hits and nine earned runs in his last 27.1 innings. Kranick has been hit hard this season and hasn’t pitched a ton to break out of the funk. Give me the Reds.
