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Cincinnati Reds vs. St. Louis Cardinals Picks & MLB Handicapping Odds

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The Cardinals will aim to stay in the hunt for a NL wildcard spot when they continue their seven-game home stand with the first game of a crucial three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds that begins on Monday in St. Louis.

CIN: Mike Leake (R) (9-11, 3.59 ERA) v STL: Justin Masterson (R) (6-7, 5.58 ERA)
Date/Time: 8:15 pm ET Monday, August 18, 2014
Venue: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
Broadcast: LOCAL
MLB Odds: -150 Cardinals
MLB Odds Total: 7.5
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The Reds (61-63) are also in the running for a post-season spot, but they will need to regroup quickly arriving late after they were swept in doubleheader in Colorado.

Cincinnati is 3-7 in their last 10 games, and has slipped to 4 1/2 games behind San Francisco for the second wild-card spot in the NL. They are 29-34 on the road, and are hitting .244. The offense may get a bit of a boost though, as the Reds expect to return star second baseman Brandon Phillips who has been out since July 10 with a thumb injury.

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Meanwhile, St. Louis (66-57) is 5-5 in their last 10 games and increased its wild-card lead to 2 1/2 games while remaining three behind Milwaukee in the NL Central with a 7-6 victory over San Diego on Sunday.
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The Cardinals are 36-26 at home and are hitting .251. The pitching staff has been solid of late and will send starter Justin Masterson to the hill on Monday.

The right-hander is making his fourth start since being traded to St. Louis, where he has a 2-1 record and a 6.00 ERA.

Masterson allowed three hits and struck out three in seven shutout innings of a 5-2 victory at Miami in his last outing, and is 3-2 with a 2.86 ERA in five starts against Cincinnati.

Cincinatto will counter with Mike Leake, who has lost his last two turns.

Leake has allowed 66 earned runs over 165.2 innings for a 9-11 record and a 3.59 ERA this season, but did post a 4-0 victory in St. Louis on April 9. The right-hander is coming off a 5-4 setback to Boston on Wednesday after losing to Miami 2-1.

MLB Betting Trends

  • CIN are 5-14 in their last 19 road games.
  • Under is 6-2 in STL last 8 home games.

MLB Notes:

1. Cardinals OF Jon Jay, who was hit by four pitches in a five at-bat span Friday and Saturday, is 12-for-24 with two homers and nine RBIs during a nine-game hitting streak.
2. Reds closer Aroldis Chapman, who has 26 saves in 28 chances, walked all four batters he faced in the ninth inning of Sunday’s opener in a non-save situation and all scored as Drew Stubbs belted a three-run walk-off homer against J.J. Hoover to give Colorado a 10-9 victory.
3. Holliday was given Sunday off to rest his ailing knee after going 0-for-18 in his previous five games.

Matt’s Free Prediction: Cardinals –

St. Louis is 7-2 in their last nine home games while the Reds are 2-5 in Leake’s last seven starts and 2-5 in their last seven games against St. Louis.

With the double header on Sunday and Leake on the mound, I like Cardinals chances here.

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By Matt Martz

Matt has returned to CappersPicks.com. The pull was too great. He missed providing his free picks and insider sports gambling analysis to his loyal readers. Please take it easy on him till he gets back into his groove. Cheers!