Two well batting teams and two pitchers starting that get hit a fair amount the last three starts each, only calls for the Over in my opinion. Taillon has fallen off the face of the earth, getting pulled before pitching 5 innings in his last 3 starts, so thats: 18 hits, 14 runs, 6 batters walked and only 7 strikeouts in 8.4 innings. On the other side we have Brandon Williamson who is averaging a strikeout per inning in his 9 innings played this season, with 6 hits allowed, 4 earned runs, 6 batters walked in that stint of time.

Cubs were just blasted in game one of this series 9-0 so I do expect a more competitive effort from the batting rotation of the cubs, and if the cubs do start to generate some hits (only two hits game 1) the fielding for the Reds is poor enough to allow runs. I'm also not a fan of the relief pitchers for the Reds, so in the late innings we should have enough to get over the total of 8.5.

Official Play: Over 8.5 Runs

Side Bet: Cubs over 4.5 Runs