Game Information
St. Louis Cardinals (14-17) at Cincinnati Reds (16-15)
Time: 11:40am CT Thursday
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Probable pitchers: Matthew Liberatore (2-2, 3.19 ERA) vs Andrew Abbott (2-0, 3.60 ERA)
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Reds -122, Cardinals +102
Total: 9 (over +102, under -122)
Cardinals Try To Win Series
The St. Louis Cardinals go for the series win when they meet the Cincinnati Reds in a Thursday matinee at Great American Ball Park.
The Redbirds swept Wednesday’s doubleheader by a combined score of 15-1, giving them victories in two of the first three games of the series. The Cards had as many road wins on Wednesday as they’ve had the rest of the season.
Libby Time
Matthew Liberatore will be on the mound for the Cardinals looking to continue his terrific start to the season. The southpaw has worked at least 6 innings in each of his 5 starts while compiling a 3.19 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and 28-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Liberatore has enjoyed great success against the Reds in his career, albeit with a small sample size. He has made 7 relief appearances against them and held them to a slash line of .080/.207/.120 in 7.2 innings.
Abbott Counters For Reds
Andrew Abbott makes the start for the Reds looking to bounce back from a tough start at Coors Field in his last outing where he gave up 4 runs on 5 hits and 5 walks in 4 innings. The left-hander was dominant in his other two starts this season with just 2 runs allowed and 16 strikeouts in 11 innings.
Great American Ball Park is definitely a hitters’ park, but Abbott has been been better at home (3.51 ERA) than on the road (4.03 ERA) in his career.
My Pick
While the Reds are not leaving town after this game, this is a weekday afternoon getaway day game for the Cardinals where I typically take a hard look at the first five under for my pick for the game.
I’ve been super impressed by Liberatore this season, and Abbott has quietly been a solid pitcher for the Reds with a career 3.77 ERA.
Both teams are middle of the pack offensively in OPS against lefties (Cardinals 13th and Reds 15th), so there’s enough supporting data here to give me confidence to fire a bullet on the first five under.
Pick: Under 4.5 in the first five innings at -110 on DraftKings (bet to -115)
Eric Sontag hosts Domesticated Gamblers every Friday on the Sports Hub STL YouTube channel. Follow him on X @GamblingDads, and click here for his daily picks on all of our St. Louis area sports teams. Picks = betting the game - minus odds betting to win 1 unit, plus odds risking 1 unit. Leans = no strong opinion, not betting the game. Disclaimer