The Chicago Cubs will host the Cincinnati Reds in a battle of National League Central teams on Wednesday. The two teams have split the first two games of the series. The Reds won on Monday before the Cubs came back and crushed Cincinnati on Tuesday.
The Reds are 59-50 on the season and hold a slim lead on Milwaukee for the top spot in the National League Central. For Chicago, with the win on Tuesday, they are back over .500, at 54-53 on the season. Here are our Reds vs. Cubs betting picks.
Cincinnati Reds vs. Chicago Cubs Odds
Before we give you our Reds vs. Cubs betting picks, here are the updated odds:
- Moneyline: Chicago Cubs -142, Cincinnati Reds +120
- Total: 9.5
- Runline: Cincinnati Reds +1.5 (-160), Chicago Cubs -1.5 (+130)
Reds vs. Cubs Information
Cincinnati Reds vs Chicago Cubsrunline
Location of the game: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Date & Time: Wednesday August 2nd, 2023; 7:05pm CT
How to Watch: Marquee Sports Network – Chicago
Cincinnati Reds vs. Chicago Cubs Analysis
Brandon Williamson is projected to make the start for the Cincinnati Reds. Williamson is a 25-year-old lefthander out of Minnesota. The youngster stands 6’6 and is 3-2 on the season with a 4.48 earned run average.
Williamson has made 13 starts this season, which is good for 64.1 innings, and 59 hits. Williamson is coming off an outing where he went 5.2 innings, allowing 8 hits and two runs.
Reds Riding Hot Streak, But Can They Keep It Up?
The Cincinnati Reds feel like they are playing with house money, as they are ahead of MLB schedule in their rebuild. The Reds, though, owe it to Joey Votto to play it out and look to reach the postseason in 2023. Before the blowout loss on Tuesday, the Reds had won three out of their last four games. In those three wins, the Reds were averaging seven runs per game.
With MLB Team Stats – Cincinnati is 6th in runs scored and 15th in team batting average. When looking at the Reds MLB Player Stats – TJ Friedl, with his .282 batting average, leads the team, while Jake Fraley leads the team with 15 home runs and 63 runs batted in. Elly De La Cruz has been a spark plug for Cincinnati, as he has come up and is hitting .269 with seven home runs on the season.
Will Cubs’ Young Talent Be Enough to Make the Playoffs?
The Cubs are sending Drew Smyly to the hill. Smyly has not made a start since July 18th at Washington. In that game, he allowed five runs in 6 innings. Since then, Smyly came out of the bullpen twice and allowed five earned runs over eight innings in the bullpen. On the season, Smyly has thrown 108 innings and struck out 97 batters.
Chicago has been an interesting team so far this season, and they are getting a ton of production from their new acquisitions this season. Cody Bellinger had three in his first three at-bats on Tuesday and is hitting .320 on the season. Bellinger hit a second-inning home run to put the Cubs up 7-2 in the game. Mike Tauchman, Nico Hoerner, and Patrick Wisdom all hit a home run, and Dansby Swanson also went deep twice in the game.
The Cubs will face a little tougher portion of their
schedule following this series, as the Braves come to town on Friday for three before the Cubs go to New York to take on the Mets and Toronto to face the Blue Jays. Chicago ends August and starts September with seven games against the Brewers and Reds.
Cincinnati Reds vs. Chicago Cubs Betting Picks
This game seems to be too low on the total. The summer night at Wrigley is going to see the baseball going all over the place. Neither pitcher strikes fear into opponents or under bettors in this game. If you are thinking about making a bet – taking the OVER 9.5 would be the right choice here. Just one for our Reds vs. Cubs betting picks segment.
Reds vs. Cubs Prediction
We have very little faith in who is going to win this game, but the prediction for this game is the game goes WELL over the 9.5 runs. In fact, do not be surprised if one or both of the teams get to double digits. The runs will come big time on Wednesday. Our final prediction is the OVER hits easily.
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