Cincinnati Reds vs St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis has won six of eight after defeating the Reds 1-0 on Friday night as Ryan Helsley pitched a perfect ninth for his majors-best 29th save. Alec Burleson's sacrifice fly in the third was all the scoring the Cardinals needed. Cincinnati has lost six of nine and fell to 18-21 on the road. Five of the past six meetings have gone UNDER. Sonny Gray is 9-4 with a 2.81 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP. St. Louis has won his past three starts, including 5-3 over San Francisco on Sunday when he allowed one run on one hit in seven innings. The Cardinals are 7-1 their past eight home games versus right-handed starters and 6-0 overall after scoring two or fewer runs their previous game. The Cardinals are 11-1 UNDER their past 12 against NL Central opponents and the Reds are 7-1 UNDER as underdogs. Take the Cardinals as a Max Play and the UNDER as a Max Play.

Cincinnati is on a 5-10 run. They just finished a losing six-game homestand (2-4) and now head out on the road. The Reds are 2-4 in the last six road starts made by Andrew Abbott. The offense is 17th in runs scored, 22nd in on-base percentage, and 19th in slugging. They're also on a 19-9-1 run UNDER the total and 63-45 UNDER versus winning teams with a bullpen that is eighth in ERA (3.43). Meanwhile, the Cardinals play their seventh consecutive home contest on a 10-4 run. St. Louis is 6-2 in the last eight starts made by Miles Mikolas. They're also on a 10-6 run UNDER the total, including 40-26 UNDER against divisional foes. This is an excellent situational and matchup spot for the home team in a defensive duel. Play St. Louis, and bet this game to stay UNDER the total. 

Cincinnati had its four-game win streak snapped in a 7-1 loss to the Cardinals on Tuesday, but the Reds will try to start another one as St. Louis is planning a bullpen game with Andre Pallante getting the start and will likely pitch an inning or two. Pallante has allowed seven earned runs on 14 hits in 10 innings this season. Cincinnati has gone UNDER four games in a row and St. Louis has stayed UNDER three straight. St. Louis still is under .500 on the road and the Reds will go with Frankie Montas, who has pitched better at home where he has a 3.04 ERA compared to 6.75 on the road. The Reds bullpen has a 1.21 WHIP this season. Take the Reds and the UNDER.

Cincinnati got another good pitching performance and held the Cardinals to five hits while winning its fourth in a row on Monday. Jeimer Candelario homered for the Reds, who halted a five-game win streak by St. Louis. The Reds have allowed a total of only three runs their past three games and all have gone UNDER. Andrew Abbott has a 2.68 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP and has pitched better than his 3-4 record indicates for the Reds. He has given up just five runs in 24 innings his past four starts. Abbott has allowed five earned runs in 21 1/3 innings at home this season. Cincinnati hitters have a combined .316 batting average and a .561 slugging percentage against Kyle Gibson. Cincinnati is 3-0-1 UNDER in Abbott's past four home starts and the Reds have gone UNDER four straight of Abbott's outings against teams that scored two or fewer runs their previous game. Take the Reds and the UNDER.