Baseball Betting: Cincinnati Reds at Chicago Cubs

Added on Aug 09, 2012 by Jack Thurman in

MLB

After being the hottest team in Major League Baseball for much of the past month, the Cincinnati Reds have found themselves mired in a losing streak. Since winning the first two games of a three game series against divisional rival Pittsburgh at home they’ve gone on to drop three straight at Milwaukee. Instead of using the opportunity of playing the bumbling Brewers to open up a wider margin over the Pirates they’ve instead lost ground and enter this game just 2.5 games up on the Bucs. For the Cubs, it’s been business as usual–they’ve lost 8 of their last 10 games and the only reason they’re not in last place in the NL Central is the well documented struggles of the Houston Astros.

Cincinnati Reds at Chicago Cubs
August 9, 2012 5:05 PM Pacific

By one metric the Chicago Cubs are in a somewhat unusual position–they’ve actually made money at home this season but they could be back near the ‘Mendoza line’ after this four game series against the Cincinnati Reds. Chicago enters this contest up +4.4 units at Wrigley Field but will catch a Reds team that not only needs to win some games to extend their lead over Pittsburgh but also wants to avoid going into an extended losing streak. The Cubs are in horrific form at the moment having just been swept on a six game road swing to run their current losing streak to 8 games.

The Reds could have become a bit complacent after a run as the hottest team in the Majors and following a series win over Pittsburgh. The good news is that everything sets up well for Cincinnati to reassert their dominance starting with this contest. The Cubs will start long suffering Chris Volstad and he’s had a miserable year with a 7.22 ERA overall and an 8.22 ERA in his home starts. More problematic is the fact that the Cubs have lost all ten of his starts this year (0-10 -10 units) including five at home. Mike Leake started the season poorly but has rounded into solid, if not spectacular, form. He’s got a 3.00 ERA in his road assignments and the Reds have won 5 of his 9 starts. We’ll lay the price on a far superior Reds team that needs a win.

Bet Cincinnati Reds (Leake) -150 over Chicago Cubs (Volstad)