Milwaukee Brewers vs Cincinnati Reds MLB Betting Preview– 8/29/18
A battle on National League Central foes will take place this evening as the Milwaukee Brewers take on the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark. This is game two of a three-game set and has a start time of 7:10 PM ET. The Reds took game one, but the Brewers still lead the season series 9-5.
Lines: Milwaukee -145… Cincinnati +135… O/U 9
Pitching Matchup
Freddy Peralta will get the nod for the Brewers and he has gone 6-4 with a 3.02 ERA in 13 starts in this his first year in the league, including 2-3 with a 5.06 ERA in eight starts on the road. Peralta is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA in two starts against the Reds. He was 6-1 with a 3.05 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in 12 starts at Colorado Springs (AAA) this year.
Taking the hill for the Reds will be Matt Harvey and he has gone 6-7 with a 4.77 ERA in 26 games (22 starts) on the year, including 4-2 with a 4,53 ERa in 11 games (10 starts) in his home games. He has gone 6-5 with a 4.14 ERA in 18 starts for the Reds this year. In his career, he has gone 6-1 with a 3.45 ERA in 10 starts here at Great American Ballpark and 6-5 with a 2.45 ERA in 18 starts during August. Harvey is 1-2 with a 4.15 ERA in four career starts against the Brewers.
Game Analysis
The Milwaukee Brewers are currently sitting 5.5 games out of first in the National League Central, but they down own the 2nd wildcard slot at the moment. They need to keep winning, but that didn’t happen in game one of this series as they fell by a score of 9-7. The pitching has been a bit problematic for them of late as they have now allowed nine runs in four of their last six games. They will clearly need to get that fixed if they hope to eventually grab at least a wildcard berth. Freddy Peralta gets the call today and he has a 5.62 ERA over his last three starts, but we also note that he has allowed three runs or less in four of his last five starts. The Brewers will need a big outing from him in this one. Christian Yelich had a big game in the opener as he cracked two homers and drove in five runs, but it just wasn’t enough. Junior Guerra took the loss after allowing six ERs on eight hits and two walks in just 1.1 innings of work. He is now 6-9 with a 4.09 ERA on the year. Milwaukee has gone 33-34 on the road and they have averaged 4.27 rpg and have allowed 4.27 rpg in those games.
The Reds have no shot at the playoffs, but they can still play spoiler to teams that are trying to get in. They did that in game one as they won by a score of 9-5. They had lost their previous five games in a row and were outscored 33-9 over that stretch, so it was a nice win for them. They have still allowed 6.67 rpg over their last six games, which is not so nice. They hope to grab another win in this one, behind Matt Harvey, who has gone 1-0 with a 1.45 ERA in his last three starts. He has not had a great year overall, but has pitched far better for the Reds than the Mets and has been hot of late. The Reds pounded out 14 hits in the game with Jose Peraza leading the way with four hits and two RBIs. Scooter Gennett also had a nice game with three hits and a pair of RBIs. Anthony Desclafani allowed four ERs on seven hits and one walk to grab the win. He is now 7-4 with a 4.34 ERA on the year. The Reds have gone 32-35 at home and they have averaged 4.70 rpg and have allowed 5.12 rpg in those games.
Trends
The Brewers are 37-15 in their last 52 when their opponent scores 5 runs or more in their previous game… Milwaukee is 39-18 in their last 57 during game 2 of a series… The Brewers are 1-8 in their last 9 road games vs. a team with a losing record.
The Reds have gone 6-0 in their last 6 home games vs. a team with a losing road record… Cincinnati is 5-1 in Harvey’s last 6 home starts… The Reds are 2-10 in their last 12 vs. a team with a winning record.
