MLB Odds: Reds and Cardinals on FOX

St. Louis has dropped Adam Wainwright’s last three starts.

Cincinnati and St. Louis play the middle matchup of a critical three-game National League Central series with Saturday’s contest at Busch Stadium.  This marks the last series of the year between these two rivals, and the Cardinals are quickly running out of time to overtake the Reds atop the division.

Cincinnati started this series with an eight-game advantage over second-place St. Louis after going 7-3 its last 10 games.  The Cardinals have gone a dismal 2-8 their past 10 matchups, but can gain some much needed ground with this series.  Manager Tony La Russa’s team also finds itself 5 ½ games out of the wild-card race behind Philadelphia and San Francisco.

Don Best Sports opened St. Louis as a decided 200 home favorite over Cincinnati, with the total set at seven.  FOX Sports will provide coverage of Saturday’s contest beginning at 1:10 p.m. PT from the Cardinals’ Busch Stadium.

Cincinnati southpaw Travis Wood (4-2, 3.53 ERA) will be making his first career appearance against the Cardinals in this contest.  The rookie hurler picked up a no-decision against Chicago Sunday, and the team eventually prevailed as 199 home ‘chalk,’ 7-5.

Wood was reached for three runs on a career-high 10 hits with three walks and four strikeouts over five innings and 93 pitches.  The combined 12 runs toppled the nine-run closing MLB odds total, helping the ‘over’ cash his third straight start.  The 23-year-old was involved in six consecutive road outings before his latest effort.

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Cincinnati, 37-28 away from home, continues a seven-game road trip after this series with four games against Colorado.  The Reds are 10-3 their previous 13 road endeavors, and 21-8 their last 29 outings overall.

St. Louis pitcher Adam Wainwright (17-9, 2.30 ERA) is currently mired in the first three-game losing streak of his major-league career.  The six-year veteran fell to Washington Sunday as a 170 road favorite, 4-2, marking his second straight start that he surrendered four runs.

The 6-foot-7 right-hander went five innings against the Nationals, yielding four runs on six hits (one home run) with three walks and seven strikeouts on 104 pitches.  The combined six runs failed to topple the 7 ½-run closing total, helping the ‘under’ improve to 3-0-1 his previous four outings.

Wainwright has faced the Reds three times this season, all on the road, with the Cardinals winning two of those matchups.  The 29-year-old tossed a combined 20 innings, allowing six runs on 12 hits (two home runs) with five walks and 16 strikeouts.  St. Louis prevailed as a 144 road ‘chalk,’ 6-3, and as a 123 road favorite, 6-1, while losing as a 138 road ‘chalk,’ 4-3.  The ‘under’ prevailed in two of those contests.

The Cardinals, 41-23 at Busch Stadium, are a solid 36-16 in Wainwright’s past 52 home starts.  St. Louis follows this brief three-game homestand with a seven-game road trip against Milwaukee and Atlanta.  The Cardinals have seen the ‘under’ go 18-7-2 their last 27 Saturday games.

Saturday’s forecast for St. Louis, Missouri calls for sunny skies, with a high of 75 degrees and a low of 54.