Florida has won five of their last six and have the better offense for this one. Make your play on the Marlins when the Fish close out their first half in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.
Two promising pitchers go in this matchup - Andrew Miller for Florida and Chad Billingsley for Los Angeles. Billingsley is the strong favorite on the betting line. He's certainly capable of coming in with a big performance. But at this price, the underdog Marlins have too much going for them to be faded or ignored.
Florida is the hotter club, having won five of its past six. This includes taking the first three games of this series. The Marlins are also the much better hitting team, ranking first in homers and sixth in runs compared to the Dodgers rating 29th in homers and 26th in runs. Florida is averaging 5.9 runs in its past 12 games, while the Dodgers are averaging 2.8 runs during their last seven contests.
Marlins All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez said he expects to play today after going out early during Saturday night's game because of a sore right shoulder. Look for the line to climb right near post if Ramirez isn't able to start.
Miller has allowed three or fewer runs in seven of his last 10 starts as he begins to show signs of fulfilling his great talent. He has yet to yield more than four earned runs during any of his last 10 starts.
Billingsley is very talented, too, but has struggled somewhat at home. He had a horrible outing on Tuesday at home versus the Braves, giving up five earned runs on six hits and four walks in 5.1 innings while throwing 103 pitches. Billingsley's ERA at Dodger Stadium is 4.18 compared to 2.65 on the road.
The Dodgers aren't expected to have star closer Takashi Saito. He left last night's game because of pain in his pitching elbow.
Free Pick: Marlins +150