Pirates at Reds MLB Picks – May 27, 2010: Good things are happening for the Cinciannati Reds and baseball gamblers should take notice. The Reds have been consistant enough, taking 14 of their last 20 games, to have moved into first place in the National League Central Division ahead of traditional favorite St. Louis Cardinals. On Thursday (7:10 pm Eastern) the Reds will go for a series win when they play the Pittsburgh Pirates at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. The Reds have won two of three games played in the series.
Getting the start for Cincinnati this day is Johnny Cuerto. The Reds righthander is 4-1 this season with a 3.60 ERA. countering for the Pirates is righthander Charlie Morton who is 1-8 with an 8.71 ERA.
This is Morton's second start facing the Reds this month the first on May 11, a home loss, when he gave up three earned runs off seven hits while striking out four and walking two. Morton is 1-3 with a 5.55 ERA in four career starts against Cincinnati. Morton's record took a beating in Pittsburgh's 4-2 home loss to Atlanta Saturday, but he lowered his ERA from 9.68 to 8.71 after settling down in the fourth through sixth innings. He faced the minimum three batters in each of those frames after surrendering three runs (two earned) in the first three innings, putting behind a rough outing in Philadelphia that saw him give up six earned runs over four innings in a 12-2 loss. Morton has made quality starts in four of his last five outings, going exactly six innings in each despite picking up the win just once.
Cueto's last time out against the Pirates resulted in the best start of his young career. He allowed just one hit and tossed his first complete game and first shutout in a 9-0 win on May 11 in Pittsburgh. He struck out eight and walked none, finishing with 102 pitches. He is now 4-0 in his last five starts with a 2.18 ERA. However, after allowing two runs in six innings in his last outing on Saturday in Cleveland, he left after 93 pitches because of a blister on his right index finger. The blister is not expected to impact his start.
The Reds have won SU two of three games in this series with the Pirates. Two of the three games went UNDER the posted total. Three of the Reds previous five games cashed UNDER. Counting the previous two games with the Reds, the Pirates games have ended in low scores with six of the last seven games falling UNDER the posted total.
Our (Point-Spreads.com) pick for today is going against the recent UNDER trend to choose the OVER 8 1/2. We are betting that Cincinnati is able to pick up some runs against Charlie Morton.
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