The Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Guardians meet in the finale of their two-game interleague series in MLB action from Progressive Field on Wednesday.

Reds Pushing For Important Sweep

The Cincinnati Reds will be looking for a huge two-game sweep here after their 11-7 win over the Guardians in Tuesday’s opener. The win propelled Cincinnati to 81-77 on the year, sitting 1.5 games out in the NL Wild Card race. Spencer Steer leads the Reds with 22 home runs, 84 RBIs and 153 hits while Matt McLain and Jonathan India each have 16 home runs and Jake Fraley is right behind with 15 home runs this season. Steer also has a team-high 35 doubles while TJ Friedl has a .279 batting average, 18 home runs and 26 stolen bases. Elly De La Cruz has 33 stolen bases this season. Andrew Abbott will start for the Reds here and is 8-5 with a 3.70 ERA and 119 strikeouts this season.

Cincinnati Reds Team Facts

The Reds have won nine of their last 10 games as road underdogs against American League opponents following a win.
The Reds have covered the run line each of their last nine Wednesday night games against teams that held a losing record.
The Reds have led after 7 innings in seven of their last eight games as road underdogs against American League opponents.
The Reds have led after 5 innings in each of their last six night games against opponents that held a losing record.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Reds’ last four games against American League opponents.

Cincinnati Reds Player Prop Facts

Elly De La Cruz ranks 9th in the league in Steals (33) this season.

Guardians Playing Out The String

The Cleveland Guardians continue to just play out the string being eliminated from playoff contention with a record of 74-84 on the year after Tuesday’s loss. Jose Ramirez leads the Guardians with 24 home runs along with 80 RBIs while Josh Naylor has a .306 batting average and 96 RBIs. Ramirez also has a .355 OBP and a team-high 36 doubles while Steven Kwan has a team-high 168 hits and 7 triples with 35 doubles as well. Shane Bieber will start for the Guardians here and is 5-6 with a 3.91 ERA and 100 strikeouts this season.

Cleveland Guardians Team Facts

The underdogs have won seven of the last eight games between the Reds and Guardians.
The underdogs have covered the run line in each of the Guardians’ last 16 games.
The Guardians have trailed after 3 innings in four of their last five games as favorites.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Guardians’ last four games as favorites against NL Central opponents.
The Guardians have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last seven home games against NL Central opponents that held a winning record.

Matchup/League Facts

The Cleveland Guardians rank 30th in the league for home runs this season (121).
The Cleveland Guardians rank 1st in the league for strikeouts against this season (1111).
The Cincinnati Reds rank 1st in the league for steals this season (185).
The Cincinnati Reds rank 3rd in the league for triples this season (35).

Chris’ Pick

I’m sticking with Cincinnati here. I’m sure it’ll trend in the right direction for Shane Bieber here after a tough return to the Guardians rotation, but the Guardians as a team have struggled mightily against lefties this season and I’m not looking for that to change. Abbott’s a solid option as a lefty and I just don’t feel like there’s anything from a Cleveland perspective that wants to make me back the Guardians here and step in front of a desperate Reds team. Give me Cincinnati.