[Chance Harper]

Reds and Brewers battle in key NL Central series

Both the Reds and Brewers entered the season as afterthoughts in the NL Central behind the Cubs and Cardinals. Now the two meet in a crucial early-season matchup that could go a long way to determining if either or both can upset the pundits and their predictions. The series gets underway Monday in Milwaukee with Yovani Gallardo on the mound for the home team and Edinson Volquez throwing for Cincinnati.


With all apologies to the St. Louis Cardinals, if there’s a club in the National League Central that can somehow knock off the two-time defending division champion Chicago Cubs, it’s the Milwaukee Brewers or the promising Cincinnati Reds.



With the Brewers looking to shake off what’s been a pedestrian start at the window for baseball bettors, the Reds come to Miller Park for a three-game series beginning on Monday night (8:05 PM ET).

Milwaukee was 2-4 (-1.73 units) after their 8-5 loss in their Sunday Night Baseball showdown with Chicago, which clipped the Brew Crew 6-5 on Saturday. Carlos Villanueva took the Saturday loss after allowing a two-run shot to Alfonso Soriano in the top of the ninth inning, as Milwaukee couldn’t cash as +120 home underdogs because of the bullpen’s poor performance.

Brewers backers could sure use Trevor Hoffman at the back end of the ‘pen. Hoffman remains on the 15-day disabled list with a strained oblique for Milwaukee, which had an unimpressive 5.86 team ERA coming into the Sunday nighter.

Cincinnati’s bullpen has been much worse if you can believe it, with a bloated 7.36 ERA through five games (2-3, -1.24 units). The Reds didn’t need to go to any relievers in their 2-0 blanking of the Pittsburgh Pirates at Great American Ballpark on Sunday afternoon, as Aaron Harang tossed a complete-game shutout to earn the win for Cincy (-157). Harang racked up nine strikeouts in the payday, while a two-run jack from Brandon Phillips was all the offense required for Reds bettors.

The Brewers won’t have to face Harang (1-1, 0.64 ERA) this week, although they’ll have the benefit of throwing their ace to the hill for the series opener. Yovani Gallardo (1-0, 2.70 ERA) gets the call for Game 1, and if pitches like he did his last time out, Milwaukee supporters can (hopefully) continue to forget about the departed CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets.

Gallardo gave up two runs and struck out six over 6 2-3 innings of work to pick up the win in Milwaukee’s 4-2 victory at San Francisco last Wednesday, as the Brew Crew cashed as -106 chalk. Cincinnati counters with the equally talented Edinson Volquez (0-1, 8.31 ERA), who was the loser in the Reds’ (-118) 9-7 defeat at home to the New York Mets last Wednesday.

Oddsmakers opened Gallardo and the Brewers as -150 favorites for Monday’s game, with the total set at 8. The Reds were priced as +130 pups, although the line was already on the move as of press time. Milwaukee had been bet down to -144 at one sportsbook, with Cincy coming in at +134 at that particular venue.

Series prices have Milwaukee the -150 favorites.

The Reds’ Bronson Arroyo (1-0, 7.50 ERA) goes up against Brewers lefthander Manny Parra (0-1, 10.38 ERA) for Tuesday’s second game (8:05 PM ET), with both pitchers aiming for a better outing than last time around. Arroyo was touched up for five runs over six innings in Cincinnati’s (+117) 8-6 win over the Mets last Thursday, while Parra was tagged for five runs over 4 1-3 innings to take the loss in Milwaukee’s (+104) 7-1 defeat to the Giants the same day.
Micah Owings makes his first start of the season for the Reds in Wednesday’s series finale (8:05 PM ET). Owings went 6-9 with a 6.02 ERA to pitch himself out of a job with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008, although Owings does swing the bat well for a pitcher. Owings went 15-for-52 (.288) at the dish last season, with a homer and three runs batted in for the Diamondbacks.

Braden Looper (0-0, 1.80 ERA) toes the rubber for the Brewers opposite Owings, with the big righty banking on some better fortune this time out. Looper was handed a no-decision despite holding the Cubs to only one run over five innings in Milwaukee’s eventual 4-3 win as +127 home dogs last Friday.

The teams essentially played each other to a draw during the season series in ’08, with the Reds cashing 10 of the 18 contests against the moneyline. Cincy is a particularly solid play at Miller Park, having won six of the last eight meetings in Milwaukee dating back to last season, when the clubs went 5-9-4 O/U against one another.

[Vonnegut]

Enjoyable read. Thanks for the information. I will be fading Milwaukee a bit until they prove they have a competent bullpen, not sure if I am going to play the Reds tonight or not but I really like them this year.