Searching for an Identity - Pirates vs. Marlins

MLB BASEBALL BETTING – Game Match-Up 7/3

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Florida Marlins 6:05 ET

Two of the young, up and coming teams in Major League Baseball hook up in South Beach for the first game of their three-game sports betting set on Friday night. BetUS Sportsbook presents the baseball betting affair between the Pittsburgh Pirates (36-43, +$3) and the Florida Marlins (41-39, +$402).

BetUS oddsmakers have the Fish lined as -155 Land shark Stadium favorites, while the ‘total’ chimes in at 8.5 over -125.

The Pirates will send young RHP Charlie Morton to the bump on Friday night. Since coming over to Pittsburgh from the Braves in the Nate McClouth deal, Morton has been respectable, but not fantastic. He’s made two starts this year, but hasn’t lasted longer than five innings in either outing. For his career, he doesn’t even average reaching that 5.0 inning plateau per start. The right-hander has a 4.09 ERA this year, but opposing batters are hitting .295 against him. All of the innings that this bullpen has to eat is horrific news for a squad that boasts a bullpen ERA of 4.46. The Bucs have lost four of their L/5 heading into this game, as they search to break a string of losing seasons that dates back into the mid-90s.

The Fish will send RHP Chris Volstad to the hill to oppose the right-hander. After a pair of really lousy starts, Volstad has rebounded with a pair of strong outings. He has allowed five runs in his L/12 innings of work, but has only led the Marlins to a 1-1 during that stretch. He has a 4.63 ERA this year, which is a far cry from the 2.88 ERA he posted in 2008, but his WHIP is still a very strong 1.28 for the season. Volstad has never faced the Bucs in his career, but he’ll be looking to improve on a questionable 3-4 home record this season. Florida has won eight straight home games, and save a three-game sweep at Tropicana Field last weekend, hasn’t lost a game since losing 5-1 to the Yankees back on June 19th. Keep an eye on SS Hanley Ramirez, who has been tearing the cover off the ball in his L/11 games. He is batting .465 in that stretch with five doubles, four homers, 11 runs scored, and a whopping 24 RBIs. He has knocked in at least one run in each of those 11 games. He’s making a strong case to be the starting shortstop for the NL in the All-Star Game.

The Pirates are still searching for an identity after making a bunch of trades to reform their team. They’re clearly a team that is going nowhere quickly, while the Marlins are still surprisingly in the thick of the fight in the NL East. They’re just percentage points behind the Phillies for first place in the division, and are in the heat of the Wild Card battle as well. Dropping games to the Pirates at home would just be unacceptable. Back the Marlins and Volstad with confidence this evening…

Rose’s Recommendation: 3* Florida Marlins -155

(Rating Scale: 1* - 5*)