The St. Louis Cardinals (85-60) host the Cincinnati Reds (57-87) at Busch Stadium on Saturday in a doubleheader. The Cardinals leveled the series 1-1 after winning 6-5 on Friday, their 10th head-to-head victory in 16 games this season. Reliever Chris Stratton threw 0.1 scoreless innings to get the win, and Ryan Helsley struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save. Albert Pujols went 1 for 3 with a home run and two RBIs in the win. Paul Goldschmidt added two doubles, two runs, and one RBI. Nick Senzel was 2 for 3 with a double and one run for the Reds.
ON THE MOUND
Mike Minor (4-11, 5.78 ERA) is in line to start for Cincinnati in the first game of the doubleheader. The left-hander allowed six runs (four earned) over five innings in his last start, a 6-3 road defeat against the Pirates on Monday. He was charged with the loss, yielding seven hits while striking out five and walking three. Over two previous starts against the Cardinals this season, Minor has allowed seven earned runs over 8.2 innings (0-1, 7.27). He has struck out four and walked six.For St. Louis, RHP Dakota Hudson (7-7, 4.43 ERA) gets the start. He has made three appearances against the Reds this season, all starts, giving up 11 runs over 18.1 innings (1-2, 5.40) with eight strikeouts and seven walks. In his last start on August 30, Hudson took the loss on the road against the Reds. He threw 4.2 innings and gave up five runs on nine hits, striking out two and walking one in the 5-1 defeat.
AT THE PLATE
Over the last five games, Cincinnati has averaged only 2.6 runs a game, down from their season average of 4.2, while performing worse across the board (.184/.267/.335). Against righties like Hudson this season, the Reds have a .681 OPS. Kyle Farmer is the team’s most potent producer against right-handers with a .629 OPS in 334 at-bats. St. Louis is averaging only 4.0 runs per game in the last five, down slightly from 4.9 for the season. The Cards have a .819 OPS against left-handers in 2022, highest in MLB. With a 1.379 OPS over 103 at-bats, Goldschmidt has been their best hitter against left-handers.
HOME AND AWAY
Cincinnati is 28-44 away from home in 2022, scoring 3.7 runs per game while allowing 5.0 runs. St. Louis has gone 49-26 at Busch Stadium this season, averaging 4.9 runs per game while surrendering 3.6. St. Louis is 7-3 in the last 10 games between the NL Central rivals at Busch Stadium with an average scoreline of 4.9-3.3.
STANDINGS UPDATE
The Cardinals lead the NL Central by seven games over the Brewers. The Reds are fourth in the NL Central, 27 games behind the Cardinals.
SportsTips’ MLB Pick:
St.Louis Cardinals
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
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