Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds Betting Trends and Picks: July 25th 2009

BetUS MLB betting matchup:

The Reds will send their best starting pitcher to the mound in right-hander Johnny Cueto (8-6, 3.67 ERA), while the Cubs go with another righty, Kevin Hart (1-1, 2.30 ERA), who moves up a day on relatively short notice.

Here are some of the MLB Baseball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* CIN has lost seven of its last nine games
* CIN has lost its last five road games
* CHI has won five of its last seven games
* CHI has played four of its last five games OVER the total
* CHI has won ten of its last 15 home games
* CHI has lost four of its last six home games
* CHI has played five of its last seven home games UNDER the total

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD sports betting trends:

* Four of the last five meetings have gone UNDER the total
* Five of the last six meetings in Chicago have gone UNDER the total

Click here to bet on the Chicago Cubs or Cincinnati Reds at BetUS online sportsbook

In the National League Central, if you can put together a nice little run of any kind you are going to edge closer to the top, because nobody has stepped forward to be a complete team. The Cubs won five of their first seven games after the All-Star break and managed to pull within a game and a half of the lead held by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Ted Lilly, who was originally scheduled to go to the mound on Saturday, was pretty strong in his last outing against Cincinnati, throwing seven scoreless innings on five hits. Unfortunately, the Cubs could not put together anything offensively, and they lost 3-0. That has been the story for much of the season in Chicago, as an offense that was thought to be potent has sputtered. Lilly went into the All-Star break – and to the All-Star Game, in fact – having allowed just a run on four hits to the Cards in his last start. After coming back from the break, however, he was shelled by the Phillies, leaving after four innings and seven Philadelphia runs. He also developed shoulder soreness, which caused Lou Piniella to scratch him from the Saturday start. So if you were expecting him to pitch, well, don’t.

Kevin Hart will get the call instead. He was slated to go on Sunday, but moves up a day, getting five days rest anyway between outings. This will be only his third start of the season; so far he’s gone five innings in both of them, allowing one run in his first against the Braves, then two runs to Washington on July 19. Hart is having a better season than he had in 2008, when he had a 6.51 ERA in 21 games, all in relief. Batters were hitting just .157 against him when he was pitching for Triple-A Iowa. He had then been optioned to Single-A Peoria on July 9, so that he could keep pitching during the All-Star break, and came back ten days later to make that start against the Nationals. The Cubs have been dealing with a toe injury to Ryan Dempster, which opened up a spot in the rotation.

Cincinnati has been slumping, and Johnny Cueto, who has on balance been this team’s best starter, has had a hard time holding up his end over the last three starts. He didn’t make it out of the first inning back on July 6, as the Phillies scored nine runs en route to a 22-1 victory. Then he allowed four runs on nine hits in just five innings against the generally non-offensive Mets. Last time he took the mound, on Sunday, he gave up only three runs in six innings to the Brewers, but he also surrendered ten hits, which means he had to get out of trouble a few times. His WHIP ratio in those last three starts is 2.57.