MLB Baseball
2012-07-13 - St Louis Cardinals at Cincinnati Reds
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
United States: Major League Baseball
Friday 13 July 2012 - First Pitch 7:10pm ET
12:10am (British Standard Time)
Preview
The All-Star game has come and gone and that means teams are ready for the push over the next couple of months as the Play Off places are decided. Both of these teams open up a three game series with real ambitions of making it to the post-season and both are still in the hunt in the National League Central.
The Cincinnati Reds (47-38) trail the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates in the Division by just 1 game while they are a further 1.5 games clear of the St Louis Cardinals (46-40) and it is clear that this looks like being a fight to the finish between those three clubs. That also makes this series important for both teams as they look to pick up some momentum early on.
Mat Latos will be given the ball for the Reds in a bid to improve his 7-2 record and his 4.13 ERA on the season so far. That doesn't tell the full story of how Latos is pitching at the moment as he has won 7 consecutive decisions and he is 2-0 with a 0.72 ERA in his last three starts for the Reds.
However, the beginning of his seven win streak was after taking a beating from the St Louis Cardinals when he gave up 8 runs in under 6 innings pitched. Latos has struggled against the Cardinals throughout his career, going 1-3 in four career starts against them and having an 11.37 ERA and that includes being tagged for at least seven runs in each of the losses.
There is a real chance that Latos may need some support from his batting line up that faces Adam Wainwright who has a 7-8 record and a 4.56 ERA. The pitcher was hit for 4 runs in 5 innings pitched against Cincinnati earlier this season.
However, Wainwright will look to his performance the last time he met the Reds here in Cincinnati as he didn't give up a run in 7 innings pitched as the Cardinals took the game.
The pitcher has taken the loss in 3 of his last 4 starts against Cincinnati.
Head to Head
St Louis are leading the 2012 series with Cincinnati 4-2 coming into this series. The Cardinals won both the previous two series they have played this season.
The Cardinals won a series 2-1 in Cincinnati earlier this season, although the Reds were 5-1 in the previous 6 home games against St Louis before that.
Cincinnati are 23-16 at home this season, St Louis are 23-20 on the road.
Prediction
This is a tough first game to decide, but I like the underdog St Louis Cardinals to open up the second half of the season with a win.
Mat Latos has had a hard time against the Cardinals in the past and he is going to need to keep things a little tight if he is to avoid snapping his winning streak.
St Louis have one of the more powerful batting line ups in the Major Leagues and they have taken Latos apart previously, while they were the last team to post a win against the pitcher.
Adam Wainwright has struggled for consistency in this season after missing the whole of last season, but I think he may get enough support from his batting line up to put the Cardinals in a position to win the game and that is what I'll be backing.
The Pick :
Cincinnati Reds 4-6 St Louis Cardinals
