MLB Baseball
2012-07-19 - Miami Marlins at Chicago Cubs
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
United States: Major League Baseball
Thursday 19 July 2012 - First Pitch 2:20pm ET
7:20pm (British Standard Time)
Preview
This is the final of a three game series played in Chicago and it is also the last time these two teams will be facing one another this season. The Chicago Cubs (37-53) are trailing by 13.5 games in the National League Central, but they have picked up some form in recent games after a truly terrible start to the season.
They levelled this series with a win over the Miami Marlins (44-47) last night after losing game 1 in a high-scoring game. Miami are 10 games behind the Washington Nationals in the National League East and need a pretty solid second half of the season if they are to make the post-season.
Miami will be sending Mark Buehrle to the mound as he bids to become a double-digit winner on the season. Buehrle is 9-8 this season with a 3.13 ERA and he won't be worried about pitching in this City after spending twelve seasons with the Chicago White Sox.
The pitcher has won his last four starts for Miami and has a 0.94 ERA from those games. Buehrle also brings in a 3-0 record and a 1.65 ERA from his last five starts against the Chicago Cubs.
Paul Maholm gets the ball for the Cubs and he has a 7-6 record and a 4.33 ERA this season, but he does have the chance to win his fourth start in a row today. Maholm has a 0.81 ERA in his last four appearances, three of those coming in starts, but he hasn't enjoyed much success against Miami.
He has lost his last two starts against the Marlins, both while with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he has given up 10 runs and issued 5 walks in just over 9 innings pitched against them in those losses.
Head to Head
Miami lost last night and that dropped them to 4-1 against the Chicago Cubs this season.
Chicago are 1-1 at home against the Marlins this season, but they had been just 1-4 in their last five at home against them before yesterday. Miami are 6-3 in their last 9 visits to Wrigley Field.
Chicago are 23-21 at home this season, Miami are 20-23 on the road.
The Cubs are 22-25 in day games this season, Miami are 16-17.
Prediction
I think the Miami Marlins are enjoying the more consistent pitcher on the mound in this game tonight and I think that will give them enough of an edge to win.
However, they have to be careful that they are not wasting the opportunities that come their way as they are one of the worst team in the Major Leagues when it comes to batting with runners in scoring positions.
That hurt them again last night as they went 0-8 with runners in scoring positions, but I am going to take them and hope they are a little more productive if/when they do get the chances to drive in runs.
The Pick :
Chicago Cubs 2-3 Miami Marlins
