【willbetbenny the bear】MLB Over/Under Best Bet: Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds, April 12

Finally, we get a break. The funny thing about rain-shortened games is they could eliminate various bets involved in the proceedings. For an over/under bet, it generally must go the full nine innings (or 8.5 if the home team wins) for the wager to have action, even if it’s already sailed beyond the total (to prevent people from blindly betting overs every time there is guaranteed bad weather that will likely end the game prematurely).

So, despite last night’s bet being at 10 runs, the game being called in the sixth voided it for all (and, to the chagrin of Giants bettors, runline wagers were wiped out, too). We’ll take it. 

Saturday’s total takes us to another Cincinnati Reds game, continuing their three-game set with the division rival Pittsburgh Pirates. The Reds got the home ‘W’ in last night’s series opener. 

There will be a more interesting pitching matchup on hand for the second meeting, seeing new Bucs pitcher Andrew Heaney taking on the season-debuting Andrew Abbott. 

The first thing that should stick out right away is the fact that both starters are left-handed. Why is this a crucial component, you ask? 

Well both teams stink against southpaws – at least in the early going. 

The Reds have been absolutely dreadful with a lefty on the mound. They’ve managed a pathetic .142/.240/.248 slash line, ranking them second from the bottom in baseball in all three categories of team batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. 

Not only that, the Redlegs are striking out a high clip also, going down via the K 33 times in 113 at-bats. That’s once almost every three ABs when facing a left-hander.