Reds Offense No-Shows in St. Louis, Greene's Return Goes Sideways

Well, that was ugly. The Reds rolled into Busch Stadium riding a three-game win streak and promptly laid an egg, getting blanked 7-0 by a Cardinals squad that was supposedly ice-cold. So much for momentum.

Hunter Greene's return from the IL? Let's just say the rust was real. We banked on his elite strikeout stuff (14.33 K/9) overpowering a struggling Cardinals lineup, but instead St. Louis teed off while Cincinnati's bats went comatose. Andre Pallante—the guy we labeled "mediocre" with his pedestrian 6.41 K/9—suddenly looked like vintage Chris Carpenter, keeping the Reds off the board entirely. Baseball, man.

Our Reds ML pick at -105 never had a pulse. The logic was sound on paper: hot team, elite strikeout arm, favorable price against a scuffling opponent. But Greene's limited sample size post-injury came back to bite us, and that 6.06 ERA wasn't lying. Meanwhile, Cincinnati's offense—which had been clicking during their win streak—chose the worst possible night to forget how to hit.

The Cardinals' 3-7 slide? Ancient history after this beatdown. Sometimes the cold team gets hot at your expense, and sometimes your ace-in-waiting isn't quite ready. That's the game. Reds backers, myself included, got smoked. On to the next.