Written By: The Persian
The Cincinnati Reds clash against the St. Louis Cardinals when the two meet in the finale of a three-game series Thursday afternoon inside Busch Stadium from St. Louis, Missouri. They toss out the first pitch at 1:15 pm. Both teams did not have high expectations heading into the season, and now they are both playing out the string.
The Reds have had a poor season. They are clearly amid a rebuild, and their record shows that. They are buried in the basement of the NL Central. Only the Pittsburgh Pirates have a worse record in the division. The Reds have had issues all season long scoring runs and getting runners on.
They want to close the season with wins and a .500 record in the 2024 campaign.
Even though they are +21 in run differential, they have not been able to score runs consistently this season, and when their pitching has faltered, their offense has not been able to pick them up.
On offense, the Reds are led by star shortstop Elly De La Cruz, who has cracked a career-high 23 home runs and has proven to be a severe threat on the basepaths once he gets on. The Reds need to take advantage of that more, as Cruz has 64 stolen bases this season, which is far and away the best in the National League.
The Reds have yet to name a starter, and they entered this one with a team ERA of 4.05.
The Cardinals have been able to win some games this season, but they were not expected to do much. They are within shouting distance of a Wild Card spot in the National League, but some rough losing streaks have hindered what otherwise could have been a decent season. Several weeks ago, a five out of six losing streak did not help the cause.
On offense, they are led by 25-year-old right fielder Alec Burleson, who has put forth a decent season in which he has smacked a career-high 21 home runs to go along with a batting average of .271 on the season.
The Cardinals will hand the ball over to veteran hurler Sonny Gray, who has a mark of 12-9 and an ERA of 3.84. He has fanned 189 batters in 154.2 innings of work. The Cardinals have a team ERA of 4.17 on the season.
The Cardinals are 1-4 in their last five games against the spread and 31-41 in their road games against the spread. The totals have gone over in just one out of their last five games. The Reds are 3-2 in their last five games and 3-2 in their last five games against the spread, too. They are a solid 42-29 in their road games against the spread.
