St. Louis Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Reds
Betting Pick: St. Louis Cardinals +106 odds (July 14th 2012)
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St. Louis stranded 11 runners yesterday, while hitting into 2 double-plays, and committed a fatal Error to give away the game to Cincinnati. The Cardinals are now 2 1/2 GB both NL Central 1st place teams, the Reds and Pirates. St. Louis wants their top spot back. Today, 1B, Lance Berkman is expected to be activated after injuring his knee and being out since May 19th. The powerful lineup ranks 4th in RPG with 4.93, 2nd in Team BA at .275, and 11th in HRs with 96 round-trippers. The team won 6 of 8 going into All-Star break. Today, Kyle Lohse gets the start. The RH is 9-2 with a 2.79 ERA on the season, including a road mark of 5-1 with a 2.79 ERA, and is 1-0 vs. Cincinnati this season. The Reds have won 4 in a row but three of the games were against the sad-sack Padres and it took a Cardinals mistake-riddled game to win yesterday. Outside of Joey Votto, consistency is an issue for the offense. Mike Leake gets the nod here. The RH is 3-6 with a 4.01 record on the season, going 1-3 with a 5.15 mark at home and lost his only starts vs. St. Louis. In his career, Leake is 1-2 with an ERA of 6.32 vs. the Cards. St Louis is 5-2 their L7 games played on the road, 10-4 their L14 games following a loss, and 4-1 in Lohses L5 starts against the Reds. Take St. Louis. Thank you. -Joseph D’Amico