Opening night in MLB will see the St Louis Cardinals travel south to take on the Miami Marlins.  The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised live on ESPN. Currently the odds have Miami favored at -170 with the total sitting at 7 runs for the contest.

Free Analysis: This is the beginning of eras for both teams, though quite different ones. The Cardinals must begin life after Albert Pujols, while the Marlins are opening up a new ballpark after making a giant splash in free agency, highlighted by their acquisition of shortstop Jose Reyes. he Cardinals will be tested in 2012, seeing how competitive they can be without Albert Pujols. Although they no longer have him, they still have Lance Berkman who found a renaissance last season, cranking 31 long balls with a .301 BA. He’ll be helped in the lineup by newly acquired outfielder Carlos Beltran who has his injury problems, but no trouble being a major force when healthy. Matt Holliday, who has yet to live up to his massive contract, is still a potent threat forming a deep lineup that could make St. Louis a dangerous team this year. Chris Carpenter went on the DL with a shoulder injury, so Kyle Lohse will get the start in his place. The right hander is coming off one of the best years in his career with a team-best 3.39 ERA among starters and a 14-8 record in 30 starts. In six starts vs the Marlins, he has a 5.85 ERA and 1.52 WHIP. In three starts versus Miami in a Cardinals uniform, these numbers are even worse: 8.10 ERA and 1.88 WHIP. For Miami, they are filled with loads of youth and potential. Reyes is coming off a 39-stolen base campaign in which he led the NL in batting at .337. With him atop the lineup, the Marlins are set to be a force so long as his fragile legs stay intact. Beyond Reyes,Twenty-two-year-old OF Giancarlo Stanton mashed 34 home runs in his sophomore campaign, working up to a solid .893 OPS, but he did miss most of spring training with injuries to his left wrist and left knee. Gaby Sanchez hit 19 home runs for the second straight season and has the potential to break out from the first baseman slot. And Hanley Ramirez is healthy again and forms a potent left side of the infield as he moves from short to third base to accommodate Reyes. Taking the hill for the Marlins tonight will be Josh Johnson, who had a 1.64 ERA and .185 Opp. BA in nine starts last year. Johnson endured injury woes in 2011, making just those nine starts before missing the rest of the season with right shoulder inflammation. The right-hander made six strong starts in spring training, striking out 24 in 22 1/3 innings while hitting 96 mph with his fastball. In his career, Johnson has done a nice job with Carlos Beltran (.250 slugging pct in 28 AB), but Berkman and Holliday have combined to hit .333 (7-for-21) with seven RBI against the 6-foot-7 right-hander. Over the past three seasons, Johnson has faced St. Louis four times, going 1-1 with a pedestrian 3.49 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. St. Louis got the best of this series last season with a 6-2 record in eight games including a four-game sweep in their only visit to Florida. The total went ‘over’ in six of the eight games. Lohse was instrumental in securing one of those road victories in a 7-4 win with the Cardinals closing as 109 favorites.

Free Pick: Gonna look to the Under in this one. Josh Johnson pitched in only 9 games games last year and with all the changes this team had in the offseason, you can bet he will be pumped for this one. The right-hander made six strong starts in spring training, striking out 24 in 22 1/3 innings while hitting 96 mph with his fastball. He was hit a bit in spring and will be facing a potent St Louis lineup, but it will take some time for this lineup to gel, especially without Pujols being in there. Kyle Lohse has not had a a good time when facing the Marlins, as he has a 5.85 ERA and 1.52 WHIP, in 6 career starts vs them, but he is coming off of one of his better years in the majors with a team-best 3.39 ERA among starters and a 14-8 record in 30 starts, plus he had a very nice spring with a 3-1 mark and a 3.50 ERA in 25.67 innings of work. Kyle also had 17 K's in his last 20.67 innings of work in the preseason. Lohse has not had a good career vs the Fish (5.85 ERA in 6 starts), but this is opening day abnd coming off the spring he had he will be pumped as well for this one. The Marlins do have a solid lineup as well and will they will be pumped for their debut in their new stadium I feel that being that up can have adverse effects on hitters. They will try to hard in this one. Both pitchers are capable of taming these lineups and that has me looking for a game of around 5 runs at most.  

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