MLB Best Bets: Look for the Reds to Stay Hot

Joey Votto is back for first-place Cincinnati, and Tuesday night’s pitching matchup points to a high-scoring win.

Can the Reds extend their win streak to 10 in a row?

We’re betting on it.

On Friday night, I appeared on the Pirates-Brewers pregame show for Apple TV and told everyone to grab the Reds at 8-to-1 odds to win the division. It felt bold at the time. It doesn’t anymore. The Reds are now all the way up to +400 at SI Sportsbook after sweeping the reigning World Series champion Astros over the weekend.

The Reds made it nine in a row Monday night and moved into first place in the NL Central, but what made it electric was the return of Joey Votto. The 39-year-old veteran hit a home run and a go-ahead double from the six spot in the order. Yes, that’s how competitive it is in Cincinnati -- a future Hall of Famer is hitting sixth -- and that’s why we are letting it roll one more time on RED tonight.

Ben Lively gets the start for Cincinnati, and he is anything but impressive, but it doesn’t matter because the offense will come through for the Reds. Cincinnati has averaged 5.17 runs per game in June, while Colorado has managed only four. That being said, the Rockies should be able to put up a few runs vs. Lively, who has allowed 14 earned runs across his last three starts (19 1/3 innings).

Noah Davis gets the start for Colorado. Davis has an ERA of 6.17 across three starts (11⅔ innings) for the Rockies this season. You could write some of it off to bad luck and a tough home ballpark, but Cincinnati’s ballpark isn’t much more favorable for pitchers, with games at Great American Ballpark averaging 10.14 runs this season.

Two more important things to note:

1. The Reds bullpen has an ERA of 3.07 in June, while the Rockies pen has an ERA of 4.79.
2. Cincinnati now has the third-best record in MLB on the run line (45-28-0).

Whether it is veteran Votto, rookies Elly De La Cruz and Matt McClain, or former NL ROY Jonathan India, someone is always stepping up for the Reds. I don’t see why it will be any different tonight. This team is too young to know they aren’t supposed to win this many in a row.

The Bets: Reds -1.5 (+110) | Over 9.5 runs (-110) 

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