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MLB Predictions: Florida Marlins at Chicago Cubs

The Florida Marlins started the season looking dominant. They went 11-1 in their first twelve starts. Then a trip to the up-start Pittsburgh Pirates was the ingredient that led to a seven-game losing streak in which they got swept by The Pirates and Phillies in back-to-back series. They then lost the first game of their next series against the Mets.  Give this young club credit. Instead of falling completely apart, they bounced back to take the next two games at the new Citi Field and won the series. They stand 13-8 and are on a two game winning streak. Hanley Ramirez, baseball’s second-best player (Pujols being the best), is currently out with an injury and his status for this game in questionable. Jorge Cantu has hit 5 home runs along with 17 RBIs and has hit .357 from the plate. The guy has been a flat out stud. Dan Uggla has 4 homers and 16 RBIs. His batting average, like usual, is poor as he is hitting .205. Tonight’s starter is young Chris Volstad. While all the critics are talking about Josh Johnson as the best young pitcher on this team and a future MLB all star, Chris Volstad has been tremendous through his first four starts. He is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA. Volstad started two games against the Cubs last year and got a no decision in both. He had a 3.00 ERA in 12 innings of work. Expect him to pitch well today, however, it might not be enough.  Thursday’s MLB lines have the Cubs -115 over the Marlins with the Over/Under set at 9.5 runs.

The Cubs are back home Friday night coming off a six-game road trip in which they went 2-4. They are now an even 10-10 on the season which, for this teams expectations, is not acceptable. There have been many players who have not lived up to expectations so far. Lets start off with aging star Derrek Lee, who is hitting .209 from the plate with a single home run and 10 RBIs. The other is last year’s rookie of the year Geovany Soto, who is hitting a surreal .119 from the plate showing no power. He has no homers and only two RBIs. That is scary bad. Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez have been solid. Soriano has put up seven homers and 14 RBIs while hitting .313 from the plate while Aramis has three home runs with 14 RBIs and was hitting .358 until he was hit with a bad back injury, not like that’s anything new for him as he seems to get hurt every season. Fukudome has been productive to start the season, although he had a similar start last year and tanked towards the latter part of the year. Don’t get too worried though, this team is full of veterans and has a great skipper in “sweet” Lou Piniella. The Cubbies send starter Sean Marshall to the mound tonight. In his first two starts he is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA. Marshall has spent most of his career as a long reliever or spot starter. He has showed promise and I feel he will come up big for Chicago in this game. In eight innings out of the bullpen last season he held Florida to a .172 BA against. That is a good sign.

Haimo’s Hot Notes: The Marlins are 8-2 in their last 10 games as an underdog. The Cubs have struggled against Florida going 4-13 in the last 17 meetings between the two. Once again, the trends mean nothing in relevance to tonight’s game. You have the Marlins coming off a road win, traveling to play the Cubbies who lost 10-0 last night at Arizona. This is a good pick as Chicago will win this game off of adrenaline and intensity. Final score prediction, Cubs 6 Marlins 2 (ESTIMATE ONLY, registered pick below)

Betting Line: Chicago Cubs -115

Jordan’s Pick: Chicago Cubs -115

Ring it up. Down 5-0 in the top of the 6th, no need to worry. These are champion-pedigree men. The 6-5 Boston win has Jordan’s Picks reaching record milestones. That new car and dream vacation I mentioned three weeks ago is looking more like a jet plane and a yacht about now . Be assured I’ll be here night in and night out to help guide you folks through the year. So with that said, who’s rolling with me tonight? Lets get busy.

Documented MLB Record:

36-14 OVERALL

15-3 BEST BET

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