Fighting Fish – Florida Marlins vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

Florida Marlins vs. Pittsburgh Pirates 7:05 ET

A pair of pleasant surprises from early in the 2009 MLB betting season will do battle at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, and BetOnline will have all of the hot sports betting action covered! The Florida Marlins (11-2, +$998) will square off with the Pittsburgh Pirates (7-6, +$226) in the second of their three-game set. In game one of the series, the Bucs got the better of the Fish and posted a lopsided victory. Pittsburgh SP Ross Ohlendorf chucked seven shutout innings, and he only conceded two hits and a walk in the process. CF Nate McClouth knocked in four runs for the Pirates, who rolled to their third victory in their L/4 games.

The oddsmakers like the visitors in this contest, as the Fish have been lined as -140 favorites, with the ‘total’ coming in at 9 under -120.

The red hot Marlins may have been cooled off a bit on Monday night, but they’ll be looking to return to their winning ways on Tuesday. They’ll send RHP Anibal Sanchez to the bump on Tuesday night. After posting a shaky 5.57 ERA in a brief stint in the majors in 2008, Sanchez has opened up ’09 on fire, tossing 11.0 innings and only conceding a pair of runs. The Fish are 2-0 in his starts so far this season (+$231). This will be the right-hander’s first start against the Bucs in his young career. His career numbers on the road are far worse than when he is pitching in South Florida. Sanchez is just 5-6 with a 4.36 ERA and 1.65 WHIP on the road in his career, a far cry from the 3.17 ERA and 1.24 WHIP he has at home. Last season, in four starts, the 25-year old had four starts and surrendered a whopping 16 runs in 18.0 IPs.

Pittsburgh will counter with RHP Jeff Karstens. The righty was acquired from the Yankees at the trade deadline last season, and he promptly stepped in and contributed to the Pirates’ rotation. He may have only gone 2-6 in nine starts, but his ERA (4.03) and WHIP (1.34) were both very respectable. His only previous start of the season was a forgettable one for Pittsburgh bettors. Karstens surrendered three runs in just four innings of work, giving up four hits and a whopping five walks. The Bucs have lost eight straight games in which Karstens has taken the hill.

It’s time for that stat to change, though. Sanchez is the least consistent of all of the Florida starters. Both pitchers are solid prospects, but neither has done anything to prove that they are of Major League quality quite yet. The Fish are starting to get overpriced thanks to their run to start the season, and the smart sports bettor will take advantage of that fact as the month of April winds down. The Marlins may have been the third best road team in the majors last season (+$1,005), but the Pirates performed over ten units better at home than they did on the road last year. Look for the mild upset tonight.

Rose’s Recommendation: 2* Pittsburgh Pirates +120

(Rating Scale: 1* – 5*)