Will Reds roll through Phils again?
There may not be a surplus of highlights to come for the Reds, but Monday’s season opener left the Great American Ballpark faithful feeling very satisfied indeed.
Abusing Philadelphia’s bullpen for five runs in the eighth, Cincinnati seized a 6-2 win. The two teams meet again at 7:10 p.m. ET in a matchup pitting a pair of promising young arms against each other.
According to oddsmakers at online sports book BetDSI, the host squad is a 1.5-run favorite to knock off the Phils once again. The over/under total sits at eight runs.
Tonight’s Cincy starter, Brandon Finnegan, permitted plenty of runs to cross the plate during the exhibition season. The ex-Kansas City prospect recorded a 10.05 ERA in six spring contests. Considering the injury-depleted nature of the rotation in the Queen City, though, manager Bryan Price needs the righty to fill a big hole behind Raisel Iglesias.
Aaron Nola assumes a similar mantle for Pete Mackanin. Also 22, the seventh overall selection in the 2014 draft made his debut in the bigs last July 21. Despite pitching for a woeful team, the early returns were promising: a 6-2 record with a 3.59 ERA in 13 turns.
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While these respective relief corps are all kinds of dysfunctional, we like the starters to miss enough bats early to keep the series finale on the relatively low-scoring side. Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips always possess the ability to lose a couple of fastballs, but Nola should keep his errant deliveries to a minimum.
WEDNESDAY MLB FREE PICK: PHILLIES/REDS UNDER 8 RUNS
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