he National League Wild Card picture is about as open as can be and on Monday the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds open up a series in Cincinnati that is crucial for both teams playoff hopes.
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds (-110, 9.5)
Getting the start at pitcher for the Reds is Carson Spiers, who is getting his second start of the season after being in the bullpen as a long reliever to start 2024, posting a 3.20 ERA across 25 1/3 innings in six appearances this season.
Spiers has yet to allow a home run this season and has a 2.40 fielding independent with just 1.8 walks allowed per nine innings with 7.1 strikeouts per nine innings.
The Pirates counter with a starting pitcher of their own that does not allow a lot of walks as Bailey Falter gets the start, posting a 3.74 ERA with 5.9 strikeouts and 2.4 walks per nine innings.
Falter enters with a 4.59 fielding independent due in large part to allowing 1.4 home runs per nine innings and faces a Reds lineup that is 17th in the league in home runs per game.
Both offense enter having plenty of struggles this season as Pittsburgh is 24th in the league in both home runs per game and runs per game while the Reds 4.2 runs per game is 19th in the league.
Helping the Reds cause is having the better bullpen, entering Sunday, ranking ninth among the 30 MLB teams with a 3.47 ERA in the bullpen while the Pirates 4.50 ERA is 24th.
With both offenses having their share of struggles, the bullpen support coupled with Spiers doing a good job of keeping the ball in the park will be what gets the Reds a win on Monday.
The Play: Reds -110
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