For today:
Pittsburgh +116
Explanation:
How is playing Ivan Nova, Pittsburgh shouldnt be the underdog here.
Yeah, it is true that the Pirates offense is not working fine so far but with Nova pitching, I give them more than 50% of chances to win this match and the odds are even higher. Nova is 2-2 this season with a 2.00 ERA and 0.89 WHIP, by far the best starter in the Pirates rotation. So far, he has started 4 times on the mound and all of them were quality starts, even the losses. And that was facing teams like the Yankees or the Cards that are good enough to be considered a success the Nova's performance.
This year the Marlins stepped forward or at least they did in the first 20 games. With they playing better than previous seasons, their record is still negative with the actual 10-11. Of course that they have good names like Stanton, Dee Gordon, Prado, Yelich ... but somehow the team is far from being a winner. Today with Straily on the mound, I cannot consider them the favourite in this match. So far this season, Straily played 20.2 innings in 4 games started with a 3.92 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He faced the Padres, the Braves, the Mets and the Nationals. Only the Nationals could be considered a good team offensively and his performance was not good, allowing 5 runs in just 3.1 innings.
Well, I like Pittsburgh a lot in this one. They have a better pitcher on the mound into my eyes, their bullpen is way better but the main problem is their offense, still asleep. If the batters start connecting with the ball, I am pretty sure that this will be an easy one for the Pirates and if they play like they did so far this season, the match wont be easy but I still think the Pirates could take the win here.
GL!