Cardinals vs. Reds Prediction and Odds for Saturday, July 23 (Back St. Louis in Steven Matz's Return)

The Cardinals get one of their starters of the IL in hopes of making a NL Pennant push against a lowly divisional opponent.

St. Louis heads to Cincinnati to take on the Reds for their first series after the All-Star break. The team welcomes back Steven Matz, who hasn't pitched since May 22nd, can he find his form after struggling in his firsts season with the club before hitting the IL with a shoulder injury.

Here are the odds for Saturday's showdown with Matz entering as a favorite against the Reds, who will counter with fellow left hander Mike Minor.

Cardinals vs. Reds Odds, Run Line, Total

Run Line:

• Cardinals: -1.5 (+100)
• Reds: +1.5 (-120)

Moneyline

• Cardinals: -150
• Reds: +130

Total:

• 10 (Over -110/Under -110)

Cardinals vs. Reds Prediction and Pick

It's tough to project too much as to what we'll see from Matz on Saturday, but while his ERA sits at 6.03 he was subjected to some bad luck in the field with a FIP of 4.26. He may not go too far into the game but Matz is backed by the far superior bullpen. The Cards are inside the top 10 in bullpen ERA and should give him proper support, even if he only goes around three innings.

On the other side, Minor missed the start of this season, but it's been tough sledding since entering the Cincinnati rotation. He has an ERA of 6.21 while allowing more than 10 hits per 9 innings across eight starts. Against a sweet swinging Cards lineup that has NL MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt.

Goldschmidt went deep in the All-Star game and will look to solidify his first ever MVP with a big late summer push, starting against the outmatched Minor. 'Goldy' is hitting an MLB best .330 with 20 home runs and 70 runs batted in.

I'm going to take the better team at this reduced price due to some questions around Matz's availability.

LEAN: Cardinals ML (-150)

Track all of Reed's bets at Betstamp HERE!