The St. Louis Cardinals impressed the odds makers at the sportsbook website with a sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.The Cardinals are the favorites at the sportsbook company to win the National League Central while the Reds may be due for a fall.
Sportsbook website odds list St. Louis at 6-1 to win the World Series while the odds on the Reds have gone up to 10-1. The Cardinals shut up the Reds and loudmouth Brandon Phillips by sweeping the Reds in three games that were not even close. The Cardinals are the defending National League Central division champs and they showed the Reds who was boss this week. The Cardinals two top pitchers, Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter totally shutdown the Reds in the three-game series. Wainwright is now 17-6 on the season after beating the Reds on Wednesday. The sweep by the Cardinals was their first in Cincinnati since 2005.
The Cardinals are now the team to watch in the division in terms of baseball odds at the sportsbook company. St. Louis just didn’t beat the Reds, they pummeled them into submission. The Reds had not lost three in a row since the All-Star break and they may have trouble recovering from the sweep. Cincinnati had a total of 11 hits, all singles in the last two games. Phillips was 2 for 14 in the series. The Reds sounded like a beaten team after the series against the Cardinals.
The question now becomes what happens to St. Louis and Cincinnati in the next week or so. The Cardinals come home to host two of the worst teams in the league in the Cubs and Brewers so they should have a lot of success. Cincinnati plays the Marlins for three games before going on the road to Arizona. The Reds could have some difficulty vs. Florida and they may also struggle on their upcoming road trip. It will not be an easy nine-game trip that begins this weekend in Arizona. The Reds will also have to play at Los Angeles and at San Francisco. Both of those two teams are still in the picture in the National League West. Whether the series against the Cardinals turns into a season changer in the wrong direction will be determined in the next two weeks.