Thursday night in MLB will see the Miami Marlins take on the Philadelphia Phillies in the final game of a 3 game series. The game is scheduled for a 7:05 pm start time and it will be televised live the MLB Network and locally. Currently the odds have Maiiam favored at -105, while Philadelphia is a dog of -101 with the total sitting at 8 runs for the contest.
Free Analysis: The Phillies and Marlins will play the rubber match of their three-game set, with the Fish entering the game as slight favorites on the road. Miami had an offensive explosion of sorts in their 6-2 victory in the series opener but for the most part the Marlins have struggled to put up runs early in the season which was an issue in 2011 as well. That trend continued on Wednesday although facing Roy Halladay had something to do with that. The Marlins floundered, registering just five hits as a team. Jose Reyes went 0-for-4 and needs to start acting like the table-setter he was paid to be this offseason—he has yet to draw a walk this season, something unacceptable for a leadoff hitter. The Marlins currently have the third lowest OBP in baseball (.265), something that must change if they are to live up to their hype this year. Tonight the Marlins turn to lett hander Mark Buehrle to steal the rubber match and pick up his first NL victory. He faced Cincinnati in his first start and allowed two runs in six frames but still took the loss. Mark is 3-0 in 3 starts vs the Phils, but with a high 5.06 ERA. The Phillies were limited to eight runs over their first four games, including just a pair in the opener of this three-game series on Monday, but came through with 14 hits in last night's 7-1 win. That included a span of five straight singles during a five-run third inning, a frame that rookie Freddy Galvis capped with a two-run double. Hunter Pence had three hits for the Phillies and Carlos Ruiz hit a home run to help his club snap a three-game losing streak. Roy Halladay hurled seven innings, giving up a run on five hits. The Phillies send Joe Blanton to the hill Thursday who nailed down the fifth starters job as he tries to bounce back from an injury plagued 2011. While it may seem like an uneven pitching matchup, Blanton has always found his best stuff against the Marlins, with a 6-2 record and 3.33 ERA in nine career starts, striking out 52 in 54 innings. The Phillies won 12 of 18 versus the Marlins last year, taking seven of nine at home.
Free Pick: Gonna look to the Over in this one. Mark Buehrle has faced the Phils 3 times in his career and has a 5.06 ERA in those games, with an average of 16.3 rpg being scored. Mark had a nice opener as he allowed just 2 ER in 6 inning s vs the Reds, but he will be going up against a Phils offense that grabbed a ton of confidence last night by scoring 7 runs on 14 hits vs Josh Johnson and company. I expect the Phils to have another solid night on offense. Joe Blanton has a 3.33 ERA inn 9 career starts vs the Marlins, but he is still Joe Blanton and should have some problems tonight vs this better than average Miami offense that could really break out in this one. The Phils showed last night that this offense is still very good, even without Utley and Howard, and they did it vs a better starter than they will face tonight. Despite the overall good numbers that Blanton has vs the Fish, he does have a 5.10 ERA in his last 2 home starts vs them. Both offenses should have a good showing tonight.
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