Baseball Betting: The St. Louis Cardinals will look to take another step toward winning the NL Central as they host the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday in a game that will be shown regionally on FOX. The Cardinals should not have too much trouble against a Reds team that is out of the race. They should also have the edge as they go against Reds pitcher Mike Leake who has been complaining of a dead arm. Let’s look at the matchup and baseball predictions.
Cincinnati Reds Pitching
The Reds are expected to go with Mike Leake on Saturday night. He has pitched well this season for the team but they haven’t scored many runs in his starts and his record is just 11-12. His ERA for the season is 3.65 but he has pitched more innings this season than any other in his career and he complained of having a dead arm in his last start. He is 1-1 in his last three starts with a 7.31 ERA. Leake hasn’t pitched well against the Cardinals in his career with a 4-5 record and a 4.73 ERA.
St. Louis Cardinals Pitching
The Cardinals are just 12th in the league in team ERA but they have pitched better of late and they are in position to win the NL Central. They also have adjusted their starting rotation so that their top three pitchers are now Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller. It was thought that John Lackey would be in the top three but he has a 5.05 ERA since coming to the Cardinals from the Red Sox. The Cardinals had not decided on their starter for Saturday’s game.
Series Notes
The St. Louis Cardinals had won six of the last ten in this series but they did drop three of four earlier this month in Cincinnati. It has been a home team series with St. Louis winning eight of the last 10 at home. Six of the last seven in St. Louis have gone over.
Baseball Predictions
We’ll look for the Cardinals to win this one and for the game to go over the total.
