MLB Picks & Predictions for Friday, April 8, 2011
By Anthony Rome
(The Spread) – For today’s MLB free pick, we take a look at Game 1 between the upcoming series between the Marlins and Astros.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL.com have made the Marlins –111 on the money line against the home Astros, who are +105 on the ML. The opening pitch is set for 7:05PM ET in Houston.
The Marlins come into this game splitting their first six games of the season. They dropped two of three against the Mets to open the year but beat the Nationals twice in a three-game series over the last couple of days.
The Astros are off to a predictable start, losing five of their first six games. They started off the year by blowing a 4-0 lead against the Phillies on April 1 and were swept in Philadelphia over the next two days. They then dropped their first two games against the Reds before finally picking up their first win of the season on Thursday when they beat Cincinnati, 3-2.
MLB Free Pick: I’m not going to insult anyone’s intelligence by making the Astros sound better than they are. They’re not. Their record to this point is a direct reflection on how bad this club is. That said, Wandy Rodriguez should do some good things this year, even though he probably won’t get much run support. He lasted just four innings and gave up seven earned runs in his debut against the Phillies, but he should have a better outing this evening because quite frankly, he’s better than what he showed. The Marlins are an average club, capable of beating any opponent on any given night, although they’re also capable of playing down to their competition as well. According to latest MLB trends, the Fish are 1-5 in Ricky Nolasco’s last six Friday starts and 3-7 in his last 10 starts during Game 1 of a series. Meanwhile, the Astros are 4-1 in Rodriguez’s last five starts as a home underdog and 17-8 in his last 25 outings with five days of rest.
FRIDAY MLB FREE PICK: HOUSTON ASTROS +105