After seeing a lot of each other during spring training, the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins face each other for the first time during the regular season on Tuesday night. At home, the Marlins are slight underdogs with a moneyline of +100, while St. Louis has a moneyline of -120. There is also an over/under of eight runs.
After an off-day on Monday, the Cardinals still remain at the top of the NL Central early in the season. They also have the best run differential in the NL Central and the fourth-best in the National League during the early part of the season. However, they are coming off a loss on Sunday and have three teams within a game of them in the standings.
Meanwhile, the Marlins are one of four teams in the NL East that begin Tuesday with a losing record. However, after a sluggish start, Miami got on track over the weekend, winning three of four against the Phillies. That also puts the Marlins are 3-1 at home this season.
The Lizard Man
Lefty Jesus Luzardo will open the series against St. Louis on the mound for Miami. Once a top prospect, Luzardo got off to a slow start with Miami last season but looked great in his first start of that season. Pitching against the Angels last Tuesday, Luzardo gave up one run on two hits over five innings while striking out 12, which is an indication of what kind of stuff he offers.
As for the Cards, they’re averaging 5.4 runs per game, so their lineup can be somewhat formidable despite scoring two runs or less twice in their last four games. Nolan Arenado has been on fire thus far, batting .433 with four home runs. Tommy Edman and Albert Pujols are also batting .333 with multiple home runs, although the rest of the St. Louis lineup has slumped with Dylan Carlson, Paul Goldschmidt, and Yadier Molina all batting under .200.
The Wright Stuff
Veteran Adam Wainwright will make his third start of the season for St. Louis on Tuesday. The 40-year-old is 1-1 on the season with a 3.48 ERA over his first two starts. He looked sharp against the lowly Pirates but had some problems with the Brewers last week, allowing four runs on eight hits and getting bounced after 4.1 innings despite striking out seven.
Of course, the Marlins are one of the lowest-scoring teams in baseball right now, scoring three runs or less in five of their nine games. But those offensive woes started to disappear over the weekend, with Miami averaging six runs per game in four games against the Phillies. Yet, outside of Jesus Sanchez and Jazz Chisholm, nobody in Miami’s lineup has been able to produce with much consistency.
Stay Low
With Wainwright on the mound against a sluggish offensive team, the Cardinals are the best bet to win this game. But it’s far from a sure thing with the way the Marlins played over the weekend and because only a few St. Louis hitters have gotten off to a good start. Meanwhile, after Luzardo’s brilliant performance in his first start, taking the under on eight runs isn’t a bad bet either.
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