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The Cincinnati Reds fell in game one of the series by a score of 4-3 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s time to continue our MLB odds series with a Reds-Pirates prediction, pick, and how to watch.
The Reds have now lost three straight games and looked bad in the process. They were shut out the last two games against the Tampa Bay Rays and then shut out for the first six innings of their game against the Pirates until Jason Vosler hit a single to finally bring in a run. Conversely, the Pirates have now won four straight games, and the four-run output was the lowest total they had. They have put up 37 runs in four games, and have looked great.
Here are the Reds-Pirates MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
Cincinnati Reds: +1.5 (-164)
Pittsburgh Pirates: -1.5 (+136)
Over: 8.5 (-110)
Under: 8.5 (-110)
TV: BSOH/ATTP
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 6:35 PM ET/3:35 PM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
It is not all bad for the Reds, as they just got some good news! Hunter Greene just signed a massive extension keeping him in Cincy. The Reds have cooled off a little with the bats, but they are still a perfectly average team. They are 18th in baseball with a .240 batting average and 16th with a .324 on-base percentage. They are also eighth in baseball only leaving 3.37 runners per game on base.
The problem for the Reds has been twofold. First, they are striking out too much. The Reds are 27th in MLB in strikeout rate at 25.2%. With runners on base, that percentage increases. Secondly is their power numbers. Their ISO power, which looks strictly at extra-base hits, is 25th in the league at .129. The Reds need to find a way to make contact more and make better contact. In their last five losses, they have scored a combined nine runs, which is not enough to win in the majors. Jason Vosler has been the biggest contributor so far, getting his 10th RBI last night, but that is the team lead, and more players need to get runs accross the dish.
Graham Ashcraft will get the start today. He is currently 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA and has been pitching well this year. In his last outing, he went six innings, giving up four hits and four walks, while surrendering no runs to get the win. His first start of the season was against the Pirates, who only scored once on him in seven innings, via a solo home run, in his first win of the year.
Andrew McCutchen has the Pirates off to a solid start to the year. They have won four straight and scored 37 runs in the process. Yesterday it was Connor Joe and Jack Suwinski who hit back-to-back home runs that helped them secure the win. the Pirates are hitting well, sitting 11th in the bigs with a .332 batting average. They also have 27 home runs which are good for a tie for 4th.
Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski both have five home runs on the year, and Reynolds has driven in 17 runs so far this year. Andrew McCutchen seems ageless, as he has hit four home runs, and is getting on base at a .395 clip. Joe Conner has scored 11 times this year while getting on base at a .421 clip. The offense has not a clear stud, but everyone up and down the lineup is contributing.
Mitch Keller will make his fifth start today, and it has been an up-and-down campaign so far. In the first start, he gave up four runs in 4.2 innings of work to this Reds squad, but the Pirates came away with a win. The second start was seven innings and one earned run for a win. Since then, he has been struggling to keep the ball in the yard, but has gone six innings each time and recorded two no-decisions.
The Pirates are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now. They are hitting well and pitching well. The Reds have been dreadful. They are in a rebuild and it shows. To get the win in this one, Ashcraft is going to have to be solid. He will need to have a long start too, as the bullpen has been shakey. The weather could also be a small factor in this one. While it should be 79 degrees, the wind at PNC is expected to be over ten miles per hour, and going across the diamond. This may cause some long drives to go foul and limit the home runs. This helps Keller and helps get the Pirates a win.
Final Reds-Pirates Prediction & Pick: Pirates -1.5 (+136) and Under 8.5 (-115)
The post MLB Odds: Reds vs. Pirates prediction, pick, how to watch – 4/21/2023 appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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