Los Angeles Dodgers at Cincinnati Reds 9/18/21 - MLB Picks & Predictions

In Saturday afternoon MLB action, the Los Angeles Dodgers will battle the Cincinnati Reds from the Great American Ball Park. The Dodgers (94-54) have already clinched a playoff spot and trail San Francisco by 1.5 games for first place in the NL West. Last night, Los Angeles went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base during a 3-1 road loss against Cincinnati.

Three time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (14-4 2.17 ERA) has been lights out since joining the Dodgers. Last time out, Scherzer allowed one hit and struck out nine batters in eight innings during an 8-0 home victory versus San Diego.

The Cincinnati Reds have won consecutive games and trail St. Louis by a half-game in the race for the final NL Wild Card spot. On Friday, SS Kyle Farmer doubled twice and drove in a pair of runs to spark the Cincinnati offense. SP Luis Castillo (8-15) fanned ten batters across six plus scoreless frames to earn the win for the Reds (77-71).

Thirty-one year old righty Sonny Gray (7-7 3.80 ERA) will take the mound for the Reds on Saturday. Over his last five starts, Gray has allowed just six earned runs and struck out 28 batters across 30 innings of work.