Reds Look to Sweep Busch After Greene's Return from IL

The Reds just took the series opener 4-2 last night, and now they're sending Hunter Greene to the bump fresh off the 60-day IL to try and bury a Cardinals squad that's spiraling hard. St. Louis has dropped seven of ten and looks lifeless at the plate, while Cincinnati is riding a three-game win streak and playing with actual confidence for once.

Greene's 6.06 ERA screams "stay away," but context matters here. Limited sample, and that 14.33 K/9 tells you the electric stuff is still there. He's a swing-and-miss monster when right, and the Cardinals' offense isn't exactly terrorizing anyone right now. On the other side, Andre Pallante brings a pedestrian 4.02 ERA and an anemic 6.41 K/9 to the table. He doesn't miss bats, he doesn't dominate—he's just a guy.

At near pick-em pricing, we're backing the Reds ML at -105. Yeah, it's Busch Stadium, but momentum matters in baseball, and the Cardinals are ice-cold at 1-4 in their last five. Greene's upside against Pallante's mediocrity, combined with Cincinnati's hot streak, creates just enough edge to lean into the visitors here. Confidence is modest at 2/5—Greene's rust is real—but the value's there if he's even seventy percent of himself.