MLB Baseball Betting: Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds

Added on Aug 05, 2012 by Jack Thurman in

MLB

This is a crucial series in the outcome of the NL Central race as the Pittsburgh Pirates travel to take on the Cincinnati Reds at the Great American Ballpark. While a monumental encounter was expected so far it’s been all Cincinnati as the Reds have won the first two games of the series. The Reds are now 5.5 games ahead of Pittsburgh and 8 games ahead of St. Louis–Cincinnati will be looking to give the knockout blow in Sunday’s series finale.

Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds
August 5, 2012 10:10 AM Pacific

Much respect to the Pittsburgh Pirates–they’ve exceeded expectations all season and have avoided a post All Star break downturn that many people thought was inevitable. Having said that, they may have hit ‘the wall’ in Cincinnati as they face what sure looks like a better team at the peak of their form. The Reds have quietly become the best team in baseball with the record to match–they’re good in all phases of the game. The offense has never been a problem but the starting pitching has been solid and they arguably have the best bullpen in baseball.

How good has Cincinnati been lately? They’ve won 5 straight, 9 of their last 10, 15 of 16 and 18 of their last 21. What’s most impressive is how they’ve responded since having a season high 10 game winning streak broken–they’ve regrouped and won five straight including a pair against their main divisional rival. We like Pittsburgh starter A.J. Burnett, but he’s been much more effective at home. He’s got a sparkling 1.12 ERA in his last three starts–it could be getting us some line value here–but that may have as much to do with his opponents in those game (Houston, Chicago Cubs and Miami) as anything else.

Cincinnati’s Homer Bailey is rounding into form and has become a very dependable component of the Reds’ starting rotation. And don’t forget their top of the line bullpen. We like this Pittsburgh team and don’t expect them to fall too far off the pace but you can make a compelling case that top to bottom the Cincinnati Reds are the best team in baseball at the moment. They may not get the respect they deserve from the mainstream sports media, but they’ll sure get it from us.

Bet Cincinnati Reds (Bailey) -130 over Pittsburgh Pirates (Burnett)