Cardinals at Reds Preview

The St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds continue their season-opening series at Great American Ballpark. Adam Wainwright takes the ball for the Cardinals, while the Reds will send Tyler Mahle to the mound.

The Cardinals won the opener of this series on Opening Day 11-6. It was a surprise to see that many runs scored with Jack Flaherty and Luis Castillo pitching.

The Cardinals' offense came out swinging against Castillo scoring six first-inning runs capped off by a monster home run off the right-field foul pole by Cardinals rookie outfielder Dylan Carlson.

Cardinals at Reds Schedule

First Pitch: 4:10 PM EST

Location: Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati, Ohio

How To Watch: Bally Sports Ohio

Cardinals Look To Punish Reds Pitching Again

The Cardinals' offense looked completely different on Opening Day than they did at any point last year. We knew the addition of Nolan Arenado would help, but getting monster home runs from Dylan Carlson and Tyler O'Neill was somewhat unexpected.

Adam Wainwright will get to join the hitting fun today as well as he takes the ball for the Cardinals and will bat ninth. Wainwright is looking to get his career batting overage to the .200 mark this year as he comes into the season as a career .199 hitter.

Mahle Trying To Tame Cardinals High Powered Offense

Tyler Mahle has not faired well against the Cardinals in his career. In eight starts, he is 1-3 with a 5.45 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. He will have to be better than that today, and Vegas seems to think he will as the Reds are favored.

Mahle will be facing an offense that pounded out 10 hits en route to scoring 11 runs on Opening Day. Getting through the heart of the Cardinals' order with the addition of Nolan Arenado will be a tough task for all pitchers this season.

Mahle was really good for the Reds last year and will look to build on the 3.59 ERA with a 1.15 WHIP he put up in 2020. It was a pleasant surprise for the Reds as Mahle hadn't shown the ability to put up those numbers at any point of his career yet.

Upping his strikeout percentage every year of his career has been the biggest thing for Mahle in terms of improvement. He is still only 26 years old, so he could still develop into a really good pitcher.

Cardinals at Reds Vegas Odds

Betting Line: Reds -120

Over/Under: 9

Interestingly, the Reds are favored with Mahle on the hill today. Wainwright was very good for the Cardinals last year, but it will likely come down to the bullpens. 

All signs point to advantage Cardinals in the pen and the offenses, but it remains to be seen who has the starting pitching advantage.

The Reds should get off to a better start today than they did on Opening Day when Castillo yielded six runs in the first inning. If they can do that, their path to a victor is much easier.