Milwaukee Brewers vs. Cincinnati Reds Series Betting Preview & Picks

The Milwaukee Brewers will visit the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio starting on Friday night for a 6:40 p.m. first pitch. 

The Brewers are in second place in the NL Central and two games back from the St. Louis Cardinals. The Reds are finding themselves out of last place for the first time all season.

After going 5-5 in their last ten, the Reds are 23-40 and thirteen games back from the Cardinals. They are coming off a road series win against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Brewers lost their previous three game series against the New York Mets. Both teams are needing this series win in Cincinnati to help their cause in the division.

Let’s look ahead at this divisional matchup between the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

Brewers vs. Reds Betting Odds

The Brewers (-113) are favored in Friday’s game and all series long. The Reds have the home field advantage, but the Brewers are the much better team. 

With a record of 35-30, Milwaukee holds the advantage with their 20-17 record on the road. The Reds are only 12-17 in Cincinnati.

I expect these games to be relatively high scoring due to this being played at one of the best hitter’s ballparks in the MLB. This paired with the Brewer’s electric offense and Cincinnati's poor pitching should contribute to a high scoring affair.

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Expected Pitching Matchup

Lefty Eric Lauer from the Milwaukee Brewers is expected to take on the righty Hunter Greene of the Cincinnati Reds. Lauer is clearly the better pitcher in this contest with his 5-2 record, 3.36 ERA and 67 strikeouts. Lauer did not have a good outing in their last game against the Washington Nationals where he picked up the loss after getting peppered for eight earned runs on seven hits in five innings.

Hunter Greene is 3-7 in his twelve games started this season. In those twelve games, he has posted a 5.10 ERA in 60 innings pitched. Greene got the no decision in his last outing where he pitched five innings, giving up one run on two hits and striking out seven.

By the Numbers

The Reds have the 27th best win percentage in the MLB at 36.5% including 4.4 runs per game and a run differential of -56. They have the second worst ERA at 5.19 and walks per nine innings at almost four walks per game.

Alternatively, the Brewers have the twelfth best win percentage at 54.7% with 4.33 runs per game which ranks 16th in the MLB. On the defensive side, Milwaukee pitching ranks first in strikeouts per game and tenth in hits allowed per game.

Expected Outcome

The Reds have been playing better recently, but they are not on the level to beat the Brewers even though it’s at home. I will give the Reds a game in this one, but they will lose the other two games because of how dominant the Brewers are on both sides of the ball.