St. Louis Cardinals (0-0) vs Miami Marlins (0-0)
First game of the year as St. Louis tried to defend its World Series title. The first and most obvious difference this season is that ALbert Pujols now plays for the Angels but this club enters the season with a lot more question marks than that.
Wednesday April 4
Marlins Stadium – Miami, FL
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, ESPN
Moneyline: Miami -160, St. Louis +170
O/U: 7
Probable Starters:
Cardinals RH Kyle Lohse (2011: 14-8, ERA 3.39) vs. Marlins RH Josh Johnson (2011: 3-1, ERA 1.64)
St. Louis
How long will Chris Carpenter be out? Is Adam Wainright back? Does Carlos Beltran have anything left in the tank. The answers will begin to become clear as the season progresses.
Another questions is how did Kyle Lohse get the opening day nod? He was effective last year but is hardly an opening day ace. The Cardinals dominated the Marlins last year going 6-2 but both these clubs have changed a lot of faces since then. Half of those games were one run ball games so the gap between the clubs may not have even been that great last year.
I am not a big fan of the Cardinals right now. Replacing Pujols is impossible and they already have a few key players on the DL. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Miami
No team did more to make themselves over in the offseason than the Marlins, heck they even changed their name from Florida to Miami. More importantly they brought in one of the best shortstops in the game, Jose Reyes, and one of the best closers in Heath Bell. This team should definitely challenge Philadelphia for supremacy in the National League East and is filled with exciting players.
Bell and Reyes are very solid additions but for the Marlins to succeed they need good starting pitching, especially from Josh Johnson.
With Johnson quality is not really the issue but quantity. Johnson is one of the better pitchers in the National Leagues but it remains to be seen if he can deliver 200+ innings.
Any game which he does start is a good bet for the Marlins he has a 29-12 record over the last three seasons.
Trends:
Over is 6-2 in the last 8 meetings.
STL are 20-7 in the last 27 meetings in Miami.
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Florida 6 – St. Louis 3
