Cincinnati Reds (71-76, fourth in the NL Central) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (73-72, third in the NL Central)
St. Louis; Thursday, 1:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Reds: Jakob Junis (4-0, 2.82 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 39 strikeouts); Cardinals: Sonny Gray (12-9, 3.84 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 186 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Cardinals -179, Reds +149; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds meet on Thursday with the winner claiming the three-game series.
St. Louis has a 73-72 record overall and a 38-35 record at home. The Cardinals are 24-13 in games when they hit two or more home runs.
Cincinnati is 71-76 overall and 35-37 in road games. The Reds have the 10th-ranked team slugging percentage in the NL at .393.
Thursday's game is the 13th time these teams match up this season. The Reds are ahead 7-5 in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Masyn Winn leads the Cardinals with a .271 batting average, and has 26 doubles, four triples, 12 home runs, 38 walks and 49 RBI. Brendan Donovan is 14-for-39 with a home run and four RBI over the last 10 games.
Elly De La Cruz leads Cincinnati with 23 home runs while slugging .470. Will Benson is 3-for-18 with two home runs and four RBI over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 6-4, .228 batting average, 4.16 ERA, outscored by five runs
Reds: 7-3, .232 batting average, 1.90 ERA, outscored opponents by 10 runs
INJURIES: Cardinals: Willson Contreras: 10-Day IL (finger), Keynan Middleton: 60-Day IL (forearm), Drew Rom: 60-Day IL (biceps)
Reds: Sam Moll: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Stuart Fairchild: 60-Day IL (thumb), Nick Lodolo: 15-Day IL (finger), Austin Wynns: 60-Day IL (teres), Andrew Abbott: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Jeimer Candelario: 10-Day IL (toe), Christian Roa: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Hunter Greene: 15-Day IL (elbow), Graham Ashcraft: 60-Day IL (elbow), Nick Martini: 60-Day IL (thumb), Christian Encarnacion-Strand: 60-Day IL (hand), Ian Gibaut: 60-Day IL (forearm), Tejay Antone: 60-Day IL (elbow), Matt McLain: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
