Reds Trying to Snap Losing Skid Against Rivals
There is a full slate of games for MLB betting on Friday night, including a matchup in the NL Central Division. The Cincinnati Reds host the Pittsburgh Pirates to begin a weekend series, and the home team is desperate for a victory.
Pittsburgh comes into this game with an overall record of 10-14, and they sit in third place in the division. The Pirates do have some momentum though as they picked up a 7-2 win in Detroit in their most recent game.
Cincinnati is a team with absolutely no momentum as they are currently in the middle of a nine-game losing streak. Losing is what the Reds have done best this season as they are currently just 3-22 on the year.
The MLB lines for this game have the visiting Pirates as slight betting favorites at -125 on the moneyline.
Let’s check the latest MLB picks, stats, injury reports, and MLB odds for Pirates vs Reds. We’ve plenty of MLB predictions.
Pirates Playing Better than Expected
The overall record for the Pirates is still below .500, but this team has played better than the preseason expectations set for them. Pittsburgh has scored just 89 runs on the year, but the pitching staff has a decent team ERA of 4.67.
Jordan Brubaker takes the mound on Friday night and he is one player that is looking to get things going. Brubaker is 0-2 with a 6.20 ERA this season, and that’s not getting it done for the Pirates.
Ke’Bryan Hayes looks to be the future in Pittsburgh and he leads the team with a .304 batting average. Pittsburgh still needs to find more offense, but they do have some weapons in the middle of that lineup.
Reds Getting Rocked at Record Pace
Through the first 25 games of the season, Cincinnati has been outscored by a total of 87 runs in the 2022 season. Manager David Bell is searching for answers, and he recently said, “It’s a huge challenge that we have in front of us.”
The Reds come into this game with a team ERA that is approaching 7.00 and they don’t have a pitching staff capable of getting outs. Connor Overton will get his chance on Friday night and he is 0-0 with a 1.69 ERA this season.
Cincinnati is now dealing with COVID-19 as well, and that has knocked Joey Votto out of the lineup. Tommy Pham has hit four home runs for the Reds, but Cincinnati still hasn’t scored 80 total runs on the season.
Pirates vs Reds Head-to-Head
This will be the first meeting of the season between the NL Central rivals in 2022, and it’s been a matchup dominated by the Reds of late. Cincinnati has gone 20-9 against Pittsburgh dating back to the 2020 season, and the Reds won 13 of the 19 games a season ago.
These teams will become very familiar with one another as there will be a total of 19 head-to-head matchups this season.
Pirates vs Reds Game Information
- Game: Pirates (10-14) vs Reds (3-22)
- Location: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH
- Day/Time: Friday, May 6th, 6:40 p.m. ET
- Pirates vs Reds Live stream: MLB.tv
Pirates vs Reds Betting Lines
Pirates vs Reds Prediction
Looking at the recent scores and odds for the Cincinnati Reds simply doesn’t make any sense as it’s hard to envision a team being this bad. Recent trends usually play a big role in making MLB picks, but this losing streak has to end at some point.
Even though the Pirates are having a much better season than the Reds, Pittsburgh has some pretty big issues of their own. This feels like the perfect opportunity for Cincinnati to end the losing streak and start to turn things around.
The Reds aren’t going to make things easy on themselves, but they will break the streak and get a win in this game. Head to BetUS Sportsbook and take the underdog Cincinnati Reds at -112 as they finally snap the long and miserable losing streak.
