Monday, September 8, 2014

Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati

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The Cincinnati Reds will welcome their division rival and division leading team in the National League Central to the Great American Ball Park when the St. Louis Cardinals come to town. The Cardinals will send right-hander Shelby Miller (8-9) to the hill to take on another right-hander, Dylan Axelrod (1-1).

Miller and the Cardinals are up on the second place Milwaukee Brewers by a few games and will be looking to pad their stats against the Reds. Miller hasn’t pitched as well this season as he did a year ago when he went 15-9. His ERA is nearly a full point higher, his strikeouts are drastically lower, and he has a lot more walks this season in less innings. Despite that, the team is sitting in first place. In his career against the Reds, Miller has allowed 20 hits in 81 at-bats with 4 home runs allowed. Brandon Phillips and Todd Frazier have had the most success against him.

This will be just the fourth time Axelrod has made a start in the Majors this season. In his previous 3 starts, he has allowed 6 earned runs in 17 innings on 14 hits with 19 strikeouts. He has a 1.06 WHIP, .219 BAA, and 3.18 ERA. The 29-year-old has had extremely limited experience against the Cardinals in his career, having faced only Jhonny Peralta and A.J. Pierzynski. He will be tested in this game by a lineup that features Matt Holliday, Matt Adams, and Matt Carpenter.

St Louis Cardinals Betting Trends

St Louis Cardinals are 64-70-6 against the Over/Under

Run Differential for St Louis Cardinals is 0

Cincinnati Reds Betting Trends

Cincinnati Reds are 63-72-5 against the Over/Under

Run differential for Cincinnati Reds is 0

Injuries to Watch

St Louis Cardinals

09/05/14 1B Matt Adams Oblique questionable
08/26/14 RF Shane Robinson Shoulder 60-day DL (8/25); out for season
07/06/14 P Jaime Garcia Shoulder 60-day DL (6/24), out for season
05/13/14 P Tyler Lyons Shoulder 15-day DL (5/12)

Cincinnati Reds

08/18/14 P Homer Bailey Elbow 15-day DL (8/8), out for season
08/17/14 1B Joey Votto Quad 60-day DL (7/1)
08/07/14 P Logan Ondrusek Shoulder 15-day DL (7/13)
06/21/14 P Trevor Bell Elbow 60-day DL (4/08)
06/14/14 P Sean Marshall Shoulder 60-day DL (6/13)

Tony's Pick: Take Cincinnati

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