Cincinnati Reds (57-86, fourth in the NL Central) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (84-60, first in the NL Central)
St. Louis; Friday, 8:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Reds: TBD; Cardinals: Jack Flaherty (0-1, 4.50 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, 12 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cardinals -240, Reds +190
BOTTOM LINE: The Cincinnati Reds play the St. Louis Cardinals with a 1-0 series lead.
St. Louis is 48-26 at home and 84-60 overall. The Cardinals have the third-best team on-base percentage in MLB play at .328.
Cincinnati has a 28-43 record on the road and a 57-86 record overall. Reds hitters are batting a collective .240, which ranks ninth in the NL.
The matchup Friday is the 16th time these teams match up this season. The Cardinals hold a 9-6 advantage in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Paul Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals with a .324 batting average, and has 37 doubles, 35 home runs, 75 walks and 110 RBI. Tommy Edman is 11-for-33 with four RBI over the last 10 games.
Kyle Farmer leads the Reds with 11 home runs while slugging .392. Aristides Aquino is 12-for-36 with five doubles, four home runs and six RBI over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 5-5, .226 batting average, 4.96 ERA, outscored by 12 runs
Reds: 4-6, .230 batting average, 4.09 ERA, outscored by six runs
INJURIES: Cardinals: Dylan Carlson: 10-Day IL (thumb), Drew VerHagen: 60-Day IL (hip), Steven Matz: 15-Day IL (knee), Alex Reyes: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Reds: Justin Dunn: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Mike Moustakas: 60-Day IL (calf), Jeff Hoffman: 60-Day IL (forearm), Graham Ashcraft: 15-Day IL (biceps), Joey Votto: 60-Day IL (rotator cuff), Aramis Garcia: 60-Day IL (finger), Robert Dugger: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Hunter Greene: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Tyler Stephenson: 60-Day IL (clavicle), Vladimir Gutierrez: 60-Day IL (forearm), Tony Santillan: 60-Day IL (back), Tejay Antone: 60-Day IL (elbow), Lucas Sims: 60-Day IL (back), Justin Wilson: 60-Day IL (elbow), Connor Overton: 60-Day IL (back), Daniel Duarte: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
