St. Louis (63-61) and Cincinnati (59-64) meet at the Great American Ball Park for an untraditional five-game series due to make up games. The Cardinals are 5-3 against the Reds this season, but Cincinnati won the previous series, 2-1. This matchup also features the two frontrunners for National League Rookie of the Year, Sal Stewart and JJ Wetherholt. The Cardinals' Wetherholt is the slight favorite despite Stewart having the hotter bat in the second half of the season. In August, the Reds are hitting an MLB-worst .191 as a team and ranks 24th or worse in OPS, OBP, and SLG. However, Cincinnati has brought power with 20 home runs (T-6th), but only 51 runs scored over 14 games (24th). The pitching staff owns a 4.51 ERA (24th) in August as well. St. Louis has won four of the last five games and outscored their opponents, 28-9. The Cardinals offense has been top 10 this month in a lot of categories, including batting average (.257) and 71 runs scored (T-9th). Let’s dive into tonight’s matchup and find a sweat or two. We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts. Follow Rotoworld Player News for the latest fantasy and betting player news and analysis all season long. Game details & how to watch Cardinals at Reds
Date: Monday, August 17, 2026 Time: 1:40 PM EST Site: Great American Ball Park City: Cincinnati, OH Network/Streaming: ESPN / MLB TV
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out. Odds for the Cardinals at the Reds The latest odds as of Monday:
Moneyline: St. Louis Cardinals (-112), Cincinnati Reds (+104) Spread: Cardinals -1.5 (+135), Reds+1.5 (-163) Total: 9.5
Probable starting pitchers for Cardinals at Reds
Monday's pitching matchup (August 17): Quinn Matthews vs TBA
Cardinals: Quinn Matthews
2026 stats: 5.0 IP, 0-1, 3.60 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 3 K, 3 BB
Reds: TBA
2026 Stats: Who’s Hot? Who’s Not
Jordan Walker is hitting .313 in August (15/48) with nine RBI Alec Burleson is hitting .340 in August (17/50) with six home runs and 19 RBI JJ Wetherholt is hitting .170 in August (8/47) with 14 walks and seven strikeouts Sal Stewart is hitting .283 in August (15/53) with three home runs and seven RBI Elly De La Cruz is hitting .137 in August (7/51) with eight walks, eight RBI, and 14 strikeouts
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St. Louis is 68-56 ATS, ranking fifth-best Cincinnati is 63-60 ATS St. Louis is 49-68-7 ATS, ranking last Cincinnati is 64-57-2 to the Over, ranking seventh-best St. Louis is 33-25 ATS on the road, ranking second-best Cincinnati is 29-34 ATS at home, ranking eighth-worst
Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Cardinals and the Reds Rotoworld Bet Best Bet Please bet responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700. Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts. Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager. Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Monday's game between the Cardinals and the Reds:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Reds on the Moneyline. Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Reds at +1.5. Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Under on the Game Total of 9.5
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