The St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds open a four-game series Monday at Great American Ball Park. The National League Central Division rivals are scheduled for a 6:40 p.m. ET first pitch. The game will be televised on MLB Network.
St. Louis enters the series with a 12-16 record, placing them fourth in the NL Central standings. Cincinnati holds a 15-13 record and sits second in the division.
Monday’s game features a pitching matchup between Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante (2-1, 4.05 ERA) and Reds right-hander Nick Martinez (0-3, 5.40 ERA). Martinez makes his sixth start, while Pallante is also making his sixth start of the season.
The Cardinals recently won two of three games against the Milwaukee Brewers at home but lost the final game Sunday. The team has struggled away from home, holding a 2-11 record in road games.
Cincinnati is on a four-game win streak, sweeping a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies over the weekend. The Reds offense recorded 14 hits in Sunday’s 8-1 victory without hitting any home runs.
Offensively, Cardinals stats hitters have shown recent improvement, leading MLB with a .265 team batting average. Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan have been key contributors, with Nootbaar driving in a team-best 17 runs and Donovan batting .359.
The Reds stats offense features several recent additions performing well, including Austin Hays, Gavin Lux, and Jose Trevino. Noelvi Marte has also started strong, hitting .364 in his first 12 games. Despite a high run differential, analytics suggest the offense performs significantly better with runners in scoring position than with bases empty.
Cincinnati’s starting pitching ranks tenth in baseball by fWAR. The bullpen, however, has posted poor advanced metrics (4.90 FIP, 4.72 xFIP) but has managed favorable results with a 3.55 ERA.
St. Louis pitching ranks 12th by fWAR. Andre Pallante has allowed five home runs on only 15 flyballs this season, resulting in a high HR/FB rate. Upcoming series pitching matchups include Miles Mikolas vs. Brady Singer, Steven Matz vs. Andrew Abbott, and Matthew Liberatore vs. Hunter Greene. Matthew Liberatore has performed well through his first five starts.
Cincinnati’s injured list includes pitchers Ian Gibaut, Carson Spiers, Sam Moll, Brandon Williamson, Rhett Lowder, and Julian Aguiar, along with infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand and catcher Tyler Stephenson. The Cardinals have Ivan Herrera and Zack Thompson on their injured list.
Fans can find MLB scores and game updates throughout the series. Options are available to watch the game online, including free trials for services like DirecTV Stream and subscription options such as Sling TV.
