Friday’s MLB schedule includes an NL Central showdown between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds. The Cardinals won back-to-back games against the Reds to close out the first half of the season and are -150 road favorites on Friday compared to Cincinnati’s moneyline of +130. The game also has an over/under of 10 runs.
The Cardinals got off to a sluggish start in July, losing seven of nine games to begin the new month. However, St. Louis won five of seven, heading into the all-star break. That stretch has taken the Cardinals six games over .500 and within half a game of the Brewers for first place in the NL Central.
As for the Reds, they are sitting at the bottom of the NL Central standings. Ironically, the Reds won six of nine games heading into the all-star break in one of their best stretches of the season. Nevertheless, they have the second-fewest wins in the National League, and their season is largely over.
Golden Graham
The Reds will send Graham Ashcraft to the mound to open the second half of the season on Friday. In the first ten starts of his career, the rookie is 4-2 with a 4.45 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.
However, the flame-throwing Ashcraft posted a 5.45 ERA in June and has only been mildly better in July while giving up 12 runs on 24 hits over his last 13.1 innings of work.
Of course, the Reds struggled offensively against the St. Louis pitching staff last weekend, scoring just six runs over two games. While Brandon Drury and Tyler Stephenson have both had strong seasons thus far, the Reds only have two players with more than six home runs on the season.
Donovan Solano and Jonathan India have slowly gotten hot lately, although the Reds are still lacking lineup depth.
The Wright Stuff
Veteran Adam Wainwright will oppose the Reds and their rookie starter on Friday. The 40-year-old has made 18 starts this year, going 6-7 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP.
Wainwright has been even better at home, pitching to a 2.01 ERA in nine starts and threw 5.1 scoreless innings against the Dodgers in his last start before the break.
The Cardinals also saw a major uptick in their offense right before the break. They are averaging 5.9 runs per game over their last seven games despite a shutout loss to the Dodgers during that stretch.
In addition to all-star and MVP frontrunner Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado has had a great season, while Dylan Carlson started to come on strong before the break.
Reds vs. Red Birds
While the Cardinals have lost the last three games started by Wainwright, he still gives them a considerable advantage in the starting pitching department. The St. Louis lineup also has the bats to do some damage against a rookie pitcher.
Even though the Reds were playing better right before the all-star break, the Cardinals are still a safe pick to win on Friday.
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