Game Information
St. Louis Cardinals (73-77) vs Cincinnati Reds (74-75)
Time: 6:45pm CT Monday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Probable pitchers: Matthew Liberatore (7-12, 4.35 ERA) vs Zack Littell (9-8, 3.78 ERA)
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Cardinals -115, Reds -105
Total: 8.5 (over -108, under -112)
Cards Begin Final Homestand
The St. Louis Cardinals open their final homestand of the season tonight when they host the Cincinnati Reds in the first of a three-game set.
The Cards are guaranteed to have a winning record at Busch Stadium this season, as they head into tonight’s action 41-34 at home. The Reds are 34-41 on the road.
Liberatore Gets The Ball
The Cardinals lead the season series 6-4 over the Reds. That is the only divisional opponent the Cards have a winning record against this season.
Matthew Liberatore will be looking to rebound from a poor start in Seattle his last time out where he got roughed up for 5 runs in 4 innings. The left-hander had a solid 3.70 ERA heading into his start on July 11th. In his 10 outings since then, Liberatore has labored to an ERA of 5.82 with opponents hitting .311 against him during that stretch.
Reds Are Fading
The Reds had been right in the thick of the race for the final NL Wild Card spot, but they have lost three straight games to fall 2.5 games behind the Mets for that spot with the Giants and Diamondbacks ahead of them as well.
Zack Littell hopes to help put an end to the Reds’ losing streak tonight. The right-hander has been solid for Cincinnati since coming to the club at the trade deadline with 4 quality starts in 7 appearances. Littell pitched well against the Cardinals back on August 29th, allowing 3 earned runs in 7 innings.
My Lean
Both of these teams are in their unfavorable split tonight. The Cardinals rank 26th in MLB in OPS against right-handed pitching, while the Reds are 26th in OPS against lefties.
Both offenses are slumping too. The Cards have scored more than 4 runs just 3 times in their last 18 games, and the Reds averaged just 3.0 runs per game in their 7 contests over the last week.
If you’re going to bet this one, I’d ride with the under.
Lean: Under 8.5 at -112 on DraftKings
Eric Sontag hosts Domesticated Gamblers every Wednesday night on the STL Sports Central YouTube channel. Follow him on X @GamblingDads, and click here for his daily picks on all of our St. Louis area sports teams. Picks = betting the game - minus odds betting to win 1 unit, plus odds risking 1 unit. Leans = no strong opinion, not betting the game. Disclaimer