MLB on Tuesday night will see the St Louis Cardinal travel to Cincinnati to take on the Cincinnati. The game is scheduled for an 7:05 p.m. start time and it will be televised live Locally on Fox Sports. Currently the odds have St Louis favored at -106, while the Reds are dogs of -104 with the total sitting at 9 runs for the contest.
Free Analysis: he St. Louis Cardinals have looked like a team on a mission thus far this season and that mission looks to be to repeat as World Series champions. Matt Holliday, David Freese, and Yadier Molina all homered on Monday and had two hits each while Jon Jay added two hits in a nine hit seven run winning effort. The Cards are also looking to show that they will not miss Albert, as they have hit .312 and have scored 6.2 rpg, while hitting 9 HR's out the gate so far. I said in my preseason preview that they will not miss Albart as many have thought the would and they are showing it. For tonight's game St. Louis starts Kyle Lohse who pitched a gem in his first outing of the year in Miami. In his first start Lohse allowed two hits and a run while striking out three over 7.1 innings of work as he took a no hitter into the seventh inning. Kyle is just 2-3 with a 4.14 ERA in 8 career starts vs the Reds, while he is just 1-2 with a 5.10 ERA in 4 career starts vs the Red at Great American Ballpark. The Cincinnati Reds fell behind early on Monday and never got the bats going to even get close as they took a loss in game one of their series against their rivals, the Cardinals. Starter Homer Bailey allowed six hits and four runs including three home runs while striking out five over 5.2 innings of work to take the loss. The Reds had just three hits total for the game as Brandon Phillips, Zack Cozart, and Jay Bruce each had a hit but they were able to get just one runner across the plate. The Reds are averaging just 3.5 rpg in the early going, but they are due to break out. For Tuesday’s game Cincinnati starts Mike Leake who was 12-9 last year with a 3.86 ERA while allowing 159 hits and 72 earned runs while striking out 118 in 167.2 innings of work. In 3 starts vs the Cards he is 1-1 with a 6.97 ERA. The Reds have gone 4-1 in Leake's last 5 home starts. Cincinnati was 9-6 against the Cards last season.
Free Pick: I like the Reds in this one. Leake might seem like a sketchy play because he has a 6.97 ERA in three career starts against the Cardinals, but take him because he starts seasons extraordinarily well. In his career, he is 5-0 in nine April starts, limiting batters to just a .242 BA and .681 OPS. while posting a 3.86 ERA. The Reds have been picked ny many to with the Central Division, but so far it has been the Cards show. Cincinnati is a much better team than they have showed thus far and their strong offense is due to wake up. They should be able to do that today vs Kyle Loshe, who is just 1-2 with a 5.10 ERA in 4 career starts vs the Reds at GAB. The St louis bats have been on fire, but they can't keep that torrid pace up and that should open the door for the eds to get some revenge for Monday night.
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