First pitch: Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET
Line: Cincinnati +182, St Louis -195, Total: 7.5

The Reds head to St. Louis on Monday and take on a Cardinals team that has been inconsistent as of late.

Cincinnati has had a lousy season, but the team continues to fight and is playing pretty well lately. The Reds enter this series after having won two games out of three against the Brewers last series and they have now won three out of their past five contests overall. The Cardinals, meanwhile, defeated the Cubs on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep in the series. St. Louis had won four straight games before the two-game losing streak and will need to be a bit more consistent as we approach the postseason. They should feel like they have the edge in the starting pitching matchup, though, as LHP Jaime Garcia (9-5, 2.52 ERA, 79 K) will take on fellow southpaw LHP John Lamb (1-3, 5.35 ERA, 42 K) of the Reds. St. Louis has dominated Cincinnati when playing as a host over the years, going 4-2 against the Reds this season and 17-7 over the past three seasons. Not many trends work in the Reds’ favor in this one, but the same can’t be said about the Cardinals. St. Louis is an incredible 37-9 against the money line as a favorite of -150 or more this season. The team is also 21-3 against the money line in home games after six consecutive games versus division rivals over the past two seasons. 3B Todd Frazier (Rest) is questionable for Cincinnati, which is already without 2B Kristopher Negron (Shoulder), SS Zack Cozart (Knee) and C Devin Mesoraco (Hip) for the remainder of the season. For St. Louis, OF Matt Holliday (Head) is questionable and C Cody Stanley (Suspension) is out for the rest of the year.

The Reds are sending John Lamb to the mound on Monday and he has pitched a lot better for the team over his past two starts. In those outings, Lamb has allowed just three earned runs total over nine innings of work. One of those starts was in St. Louis and Lamb pitched five innings of no run baseball in that game. He struck out six batters and allowed only three hits. Cincinnati will be looking for a performance a bit like that one in order to steal this game on the road. 1B Joey Votto (.313, 28 HR, 75 RBI) is 2-for-6 with a homer and two RBI since returning from a one-game suspension on Saturday. He is 11-for-33 with a homer and six RBI against Garcia in his career. Votto isn’t the only one who has gotten to Garcia in the past though. 2B Brandon Phillips (.293, 12 HR, 65 RBI) is a solid 13-for-45 with two homers and 10 RBI against Garcia and OF Jay Bruce (.233, 24 HR, 82 RBI) is 9-for-41 with a homer and four RBI in the matchup. OF Jason Bourgeois (.242, 3 HR, 13 RBI) could be an x-factor in this game as well. He is 6-for-15 with four doubles and three RBI against Garcia in his career and has reached base in each of the past six games, scoring five runs in those contests.

Jaime Garcia has had an outstanding season and has been one of the best stories in baseball this year, but he has really struggled in his past few outings. Garcia has allowed 10 earned runs over his past 10.2 innings on the mound and was lit up the last time he faced this Reds team. Garcia pitched just 4.1 innings in that game and allowed six earned runs on six hits and also walked four batters. He’ll need to be a lot better on Monday or his team will not have much of a chance in this one. The Cardinals were able to pick up a big victory on Sunday and OF Stephen Piscotty (.310, 5 HR, 32 RBI) came through with a big two-run homer in the win. He has been struggling as of late, but this could be the game that gets him back on track moving forward. St. Louis is going to need OF Jason Heyward (.290, 12 HR, 56 RBI) to start doing better soon. Heyward is just 3-for-20 over the past five games and he has been one of the best hitters on this team all season. He can’t afford to keep struggling if this team is going to make a deep playoff run.