St Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds Prediction, Odds and Preview - 08/30/2021

Game Time: 6:40 pm ET, Monday, August 30, 2021

Venue:  Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH

Where to Watch:  Bally Sports Ohio

DraftKings:  Cardinals +160, Reds -190; Over/Under:  9.5 runs

Bet365:  Cardinals +160, Reds -180; Over/Under:  9 runs

BetMGM:  Cardinals +150, Reds -185; Over/Under:  9 runs

 

St Louis Cardinals:  66-62 (3rd place, NL Central)

Cincinnati Reds:  71-60 (2nd place, NL Central)

 

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St Louis Cardinals:  5-5 last 10

Cincinnati Reds:  6-4 last 10

 

 

 

 

The St Louis Cardinals have not been having a good year with their hitters this season, ranking in the bottom half of the MLB. They are ranked 17th in the league for batting average (.239), 24th in the league for RBI (511), 20th in the league for hits (1015), and they are ranked 19th in the league for OBP (.312). The Cincinnati Reds have been having a great year with their hitters this season, ranking in the top 10 of the MLB. They are ranked 6th in the league for batting average (.251), 4th in the league for RBI (628), 4th in the league for hits (1109), and they are ranked 5th in the league for OBP (.331).

 

 

The St Louis Cardinals have been alright this season with their pitching, ranking as a middle of the pack team in the MLB. They are ranked 14th in the league for ERA (4.04), 9th in the league for saves (35), 30th in the league for strikeouts (985), and they are ranked 18th in the league for WHIP (1.32). The Cincinnati Reds have been alright  this season with their pitching, ranking as a middle of the pack kind of team in the MLB. They are ranked 17th in the league for ERA (4.37), 7th in the league for saves (36), 5th in the league for strikeouts (1237), and they are ranked 22nd in the league for WHIP (1.37).

 

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds are beginning a three-game series on Monday. The Cardinals sit at the 3rd place in the NL Central just 3.5 games out of a wildcard spot while the Reds sit in 2nd place of the same division with a 2 game lead over the San Diego Padres for the final wildcard spot. The Cardinals won their game on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates 13-0 with the result of their Sunday game still pending. Kwang-hyun Kim will be the starting pitcher on Sunday while Jon Lester gets the nod for monday against the Reds. The Reds lost on Saturday 6-1 to the Miami Marlins with Vladimir Gutierrez on the mound for them. Sunday's result is still pending as Tyler Mahle gets the nod. Monday will have Luis Castillo as the starting pitcher for them.

The Cardinals will have Jon Lester starting on the mound in this one. He is 4-6 with a 5.27 ERA this season. After the team lost his first 2 starts since coming over from the Washington Nationals, they have won his last 3 starts. He has pitched well in those games allowing just a single run in 2 of them but allowing 4 in the other game. In his last start on Wednesday against the Detroit Tigers he allowed 1 ER on 7 hits getting 4 Ks through 5 IP. The Cardinals have been playing recently winning 3 of their last 4 games. Their offense has been going off in their last 3 games scoring a total of 24 runs through those 3, averaging 8 runs scored per game. They are coming off a big game where they put up 13 runs as well. 

The Reds will have Luis Castillo as the starter in this Monday game. He is 7-13 with a 4.29 ERA this season. The team has not done well with him on the mound recently as they have lost 3 of his last 4 starts. He has allowed a total of 14 runs in his last 4 games, averaging a little over 3 runs allowed per game. His last 2 starts have been better allowing just 1 and 2 ERs in those starts. In his last start he had 6 Ks and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits through 6 innings of play. The Reds have picked up their play recently winning 2 of their last 3 games. Their offense was great in those wins putting up 5 and 6 runs respectively but, their last game on Saturday their bats fell asleep putting up just the 1 run.

Both of these pitchers have been playing very well in recent games. It is the Cardinals offense that has really been killing it lately and that could easily be the difference in this one. The Reds are trying to protect their lead over the final wildcard spot in the National League while the Cardinals are starting to pick up their play as they are on the hunt to get in there. The Cardinals' odds are listed as a juicy underdog and there is definitely some value there with the way they have been hitting lately. The Reds' odds are listed as a heavy favorite and the price on them is just too steep to be betting on for what has been some shaky play in recent games. As long as the bullpen can hold up the Cardinals have a real shot at taking this very important game. 

 

Cardinals Reds Prediction:  Our MLB Pick for Monday, August 30, 2021 (6:40pm ET start time) is Cardinals 7 Reds 4.

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St Louis Cardinals: Jon Lester is 11-10 (+2.8 units) this year in all games.

Cincinnati Reds: 71-60 (+8.5 units) in all games this year, 10-1 (+8.2 units) as a favorite of -175 to -250.

 

 

St Louis Cardinals:  Jack Flaherty (SP) Out indefinitely with a shoulder injury.

Cincinnati Reds:  Jesse Winker (RF) Out with a back injury expected to return in early September.

 

 

St Louis Cardinals: Paul Goldschmidt is one player to watch in this one. He leads his team in batting average (.290) and in hits (142). He has an OBP of .358 and has 78 RBI this season. He also has 21 homeruns and has scored 71 times this year. In his last game he had 3 RBI on 2 hits and also had 1 walk. He will be looking to continue his good play into the next series.

 

Cincinnati Reds: Joey Votto is one player to watch in this one. He leads his team in homeruns with 28 and in RBI with 83. He can really light it up and bring in the runs to help his team win. His batting average is .271 and his OBP is .371. He has scored 54 times and has 99 hits. He did not do much on 3 AB and also had 1 walk so he will be looking to make a bigger impact in this game and series.

 

 
"I don't know. I'm really trying to take it pitch to pitch and inning to inning and not think about the whole bulk of it. As soon as you start thinking you own somebody, they put a crooked number on you really quick." - Adam Wainwright on his long time dominance of the Pirates.

 

 

 

T. Edman (2B)

P. Goldschmidt (1B)

T. O'Neill (LF)

N. Arenado (3B)

Y. Molina (C)

D. Carlson (RF)

E. Sosa (SS)

H. Bader (CF)

A. Wainwright (P)

 

J. India (2B)

T. Naquin (CF)

N. Castellanos (RF)

J. Votto (1B)

M. Moustakas (3B)

K. Farmer (SS)

T. Barnhart (C)

M. Schrock (LF)

V. Gutierrez (P)

 

 

Batting Average:  Paul Goldschmidt (.290)

Hits:  Paul Goldschmidt (142)

Home Runs:  Nolan Arenado (26)

RBI:  Nolan Arenado (84)

Stolen Bases:  Tommy Edman (21)

Wins:  Adam Wainwright (13)

Saves:  Alex Reyes (29)

ERA:  T.J. McFarland (1.86)

 

Batting Average:  Nick Castellanos (.321)

Hits:  Nick Castellanos (134)

Home Runs:  Joey Votto (28)

RBI:  Joey Votto (82)

Stolen Bases:  Jonathan India (9)

Wins:  Wade Miley (11)

Saves:  Lucas Sims (7)

ERA:  Tejay Antone (1.87)

 

Managers:

St Louis Cardinals: Mike Shildt (4th season)

Cincinnati Reds: David Bell (3rd season)

 

80 degrees F, 75% humidity, 50% chance of rain, 5 mph winds NNE.