Free MLB Baseball Pick: Florida vs. Washington Picks & Odds April 7th
Free Sports Picks, MLB Baseball Picks April 7th, 2008Florida Marlins @ Washington Nationals o8.5
Mon April 7 ‘08 7:10p - Baseball Odds
The Marlins have been one of the few consistent ‘Over’ teams in the first week of MLB action, with a 5-1 mark to the Over in their first six games. The primary culprit has been a spotty pitching staff – both the starters and the bullpen are struggling mightily early on. Marlins starter Andrew Miller has been a part of the problem, not the solution to it. Miller struggled as a Tiger rookie last year, and he was awful in his 2008 debut, failing to make it out of the fifth inning against the Mets. Facing a Nationals lineup that has a better chance than most to hit lefties, we can expect Miller’s troubles to continue here. And let’s not forget that Florida’s bullpen threw 13.1 innings of work in their just concluded three game set in Pittsburgh, not exactly the freshest unit as they take the field tonight.
The Nationals offense was stymied yesterday by Kyle Lohse and the Cardinals bullpen behind him, but that was the exception, not the rule, for Washington so far this season. The Nats had scored 27 runs in their previous five games before yesterday’s shutout, and should have plenty of opportunities against Miller tonight. But don’t expect another outing from Tim Redding like we saw in his first start of the season, seven innings of one hit shutout baseball. The most consistent thing about Redding’s MLB career has been it’s inconsistency from one start to the next, unable to follow up quality performances with similar quality efforts. And the Marlins have been hitting righties (and righties only) to start the season, entering tonight’s game hitting more than 100 points better against right handers than against lefties. With game time temperatures in the upper 50’s, look for the Nats and Marlins to enjoy a high scoring ballgame at the Nationals new stadium, getting up and over the total. Take the Over.