MLB Predictions: Cardinals vs Reds Lines
The St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds will open their seasons at the Great American Ball Park in Ohio on Monday afternoon. Both teams made the postseason out of the National League Central Division a year ago, and both sides know that wins in March mean just as much as wins in October.
St. Louis Cardinals (0-0) at Cincinnati Reds (0-0)
Date: Monday, March 31, 2014
Time: 4:00 PM ET
Venue: Cincinnati, Ohio
City: Great American Ball Park
O/U Odds: 7
Money Line: St. Louis -115, Cincinnati +105
Pitching Matchup: RH Adam Wainwright (19-9, 2.94 ERA) at RH Johnny Cueto (5-2, 2.82 ERA)
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After much jostling for position in the Central Division and National League standings over the last few seasons, the Reds and Cardinals will get a chance to begin their battle from day one on Opening Day. The defending National League champions will make the trip out to Cincinnati in just the second Opening Day meeting between the teams in the last 20 years.
Between the two teams, they’ve combined to win four of the five NL Central titles, two each, while standing as the class of the division for several years. The teams will be locked in a tough battle on Monday with both sides sending their ace out.
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For the Cardinals, Adam Wainwright will take the bump. He’s coming off a year in which he compiled a 19-9 record, while posting a 2.94 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He also struck out 219 batters in 241.2 innings of work.
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He did have rough go of it against the Reds last season though.
In four starts against Cincinnati, Wainwright went 1-3 with a 7.77 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP while allowing Reds hitters to post a .319 batting average against him. That came a year after he compiled a 1-2 record with a 5.29 ERA against them, while surrendering a .273 batting average.
In his last two starts against them, Wainwright surrendered 18 hits and 15 runs over eight innings of work, including a career-worst two-inning outing in one of those starts.
As for Cueto, he’s looking to put an injury-plagued 2013 behind him, one in which he made just 11 starts. He didn’t face the Cardinals in that time, but he did make six starts against them in 2011 and 2012.
In those six starts, Cueto compiled just a 1-1 record, though he put together an impressive 2.72 ERA in those contests. He compiled a 5-2 record with a 2.82 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in his 11 starts last season.
The Cardinals may be the defending National League champions, and they may be sending their ace out on the mound in this one, but the Reds have owned Wainwright over the last couple seasons, while Cueto has fared well against the Cardinals. They also have the advantage of getting this afternoon game in their own park in front of what should be a packed house on Opening Day.
The Reds are 20-6 in Cueto’s last 26 home starts.
The play: Cincinnati +105
