Cardinals vs Reds Odds, Betting Lines, and Picks (August 31)
By Robert Duff in MLB Baseball
Published:
- The Cincinnati Reds are -140 home favorites over the St. Louis Cardinals in a battle of NL Central rivals on Tuesday, August 31
- St. Louis has beaten Cincinnati two games in a row at Great American Ballpark
- The Cards are 2.5 games behind Cinci for the second NL Wild Card berth
The St. Louis Cardinals (67-63, 32-33 away) are chasing the Cincinnati Reds (71-62, 36-30 home) for the National League’s second Wild Card playoff spot. At least they are finally figuring out a way to win in Cincinnati.
Monday’s 3-1 victory was the second straight win at Great American Ballpark for St. Louis. It’s the first time in a calendar year that the Cards won back-to-back games at Cincinnati. The previous time was August 31-September 1, 2020.
Nonetheless, it’s still the Reds who are pegged as -140 favorites as the two teams meet again. St. Louis is 7-2 over the past nine road games.
Cardinals vs Reds Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | +120 | +1.5 (-160) | O 9 (-105) |
| Cincinnati Reds | -140 | -1.5 (+140) | U 9 (-115) |
Odds as of August 30th at DraftKings.
First pitch Tuesday at Great American Ballpark is slated for 6:40pm ET. The weather forecast is calling for rain, 4 mph wind, and a game-time temperature of 70 degrees.
Mikolas vs Gray
| 0-1 | Record | 6-6 |
| 2.70 | ERA | 3.91 |
| 4.60 | xERA | 3.41 |
| 1.28 | WHIP | 1.29 |
| 2.75 | SO/W Ratio | 3.02 |
Right-hander Gray has won his last four starts. He hasn’t allowed a run over his past 13 innings pitched. That’s a season high for consecutive scoreless innings by him.
Sonny Gray, Ridiculous Two Seamers. 😳
[19" & 20" of run] pic.twitter.com/6UyUPAT7Hv— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 26, 2021
Gray hasn’t fared well against the Cardinals this season, however. He’s 0-2 with a 16.71 ERA in two starts. He’s 1-4 with a 6.82 ERA in seven career starts against St. Louis
Gray is 4-0 since a 10-6 loss to the Cardinals on July 25. He’s 14-9 with a 3.51 ERA in 34 career starts at Great American Ballpark.
Miles Mikolas is all of us tonight. 😅#STLFly pic.twitter.com/qYw5hwmF39
— Brooke Grimsley (@BrookeGrimsley) August 27, 2021
Mikolas will be making just his third start of the season. The right-hander missed the first two months of the season with a shoulder ailment. Mikolas went back on the shelf after suffering a forearm injury on May 22 in his first start of the season.
He is 2-3 with a 4.79 ERA in 10 career appearances against the Reds. Eight of those were starts.
Batting Average vs Starting Pitchers
| Cardinals Batters | Batting Average vs Gray | Reds Batters | Batting Average vs Mikolas |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nolan Arenado | .429 | Shogo Akiyama | .000 |
| Harrison Bader | .400 | Aristides Aquino | .167 |
| Dylan Carlson | .286 | Tucker Barnhart | .273 |
| Matt Carpenter | .000 | Asdrubal Cabrera | .000 |
| Paul DeJong | .167 | Nick Castellanos | .500 |
| Tommy Edman | .455 | Kyle Farmer | .000 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | .077 | Jonathan India | .000 |
| Andrew Knizner | .500 | Mike Moustakas | .250 |
| Yadier Molina | .375 | Tyler Naquin | .000 |
| Lars Nootbaar | .000 | Max Schrock | .000 |
| Tyler O’Neill | .400 | Tyler Stephenson | .000 |
| Jose Rondon | .000 | Eugenio Suarez | .545 |
| Edmundo Sosa | .000 | Joey Votto | .158 |
Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez is for 6-for-11 with two home runs and three RBI when facing Mikolas. Outfielder Nick Castellanos is 2-for-4 (.500) with a solo homer. Aristides Aquino, Tucker Barnhart, Mike Moustakas and Joey Votto have all homered off of Mikolas.
NL Player of the Week Tommy Edman on what's led to his hot streak: "I think it just more had to do with my swing feeling a little bit better, both mechanically and also just having a better approach."#STLCards pic.twitter.com/PlOiqY8l4I
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) August 30, 2021
Cardinals left fielder Tyler O’Neill is 2-for-5 (.400) with a homer and two RBI when facing Gray. Centerfielder Harrison Bader is 2-for-5 (.400) with a homer and three RBI. Third baseman Nolan Arenado is 3-for-7 (.429) with an RBI. Second baseman Tommy Edman, the reigning NL player of the week, is 5-for-11 (.455) with an RBI. Catcher Andrew Knizner is 1-for-2 (.500). Catcher Yadier Molina is 3-for-8 with a homer and five RBI.
Cardinals vs Reds Pick
Those back-to-back wins last year were the tail end of the last three-game win streak by the Cards in Cinci. St. Louis started that stretch of success with a 5-4 victory on August 18, 2019.
St. Louis has won the last three times taking to the diamond as a road underdog. For the season, though, the Cardinals are just 17-27 as an away underdog.
The Cardinals are 12-3 over their past 15 road games. In the midst of a 10-game road swing, St. Louis is 4-2 thus far on the trip.
Cincinnati has scored just one run in each of the past three games, all of them losses. The Reds are 2-6 over their past eight games.
The Reds are 5-1 in Gray’s last six starts. Cinci is 34-20 as a home favorite this season. They’ve won eight of 14 games from the Cards this season. They’d won six in a row from St. Louis prior to this current two-game losing skid.
St. Louis first baseman Paul Goldschmidt homered in Monday’s win, his 22nd of the season. He’s batting .333 against the Reds this season.
 Pick: Cincinnati Reds (-140)
Sports Writer
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
