The Arizona Diamondbacks pulled away late on Monday to win 5-1 in the series opener between two surprisingly competitive teams this season, but what can we expect in the second meeting of this three game set?
The D-Backs will hope rookie Brandon Pfaadt can get better results in his second start after allowing seven earned runs in less than five innings in his debut, including four home runs, against the Marlins. Miami will counter with emerging left handed Jesus Luzardo.
How should we bet this projected coin flip? First, here are the odds:
Marlins vs. Diamondbacks odds, run line and total
Marlins vs. Diamondbacks prediction and pick
The Marlins offense is one of the worst in the league, hitting only .238 as a group and has the sixth lowest wRC+, which quantifies the quality of run scoring chances a team generates. However, I can't trust Pfaadt just yet as he struggled in his first start.
He allowed four homers in his first start, and that won't continue, but maybe he's not prepared for big league bats just yet.
Arizona will support Pfaadt with a bottom six bullpen in terms of ERA, so I think it's a matter of time before the Marlins break loose.
Meanwhile, Luzardo is starting to become a proven commodity in the big leagues, posting a 3.66 ERA through seven starts and has allowed more than three runs just once this season. The D-Backs are a mediocre hitting team against lefties, doing most of their damage against righties (second in batting average overall, but just 12th against lefties).
Luzardo can give his team more length than Pfaadt can and the club is live to cash in as small underdogs.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
