Winning takes care of everything, and it’s something that the besieged St. Louis Cardinals (45-24) will have to live by moving forward. For their next game, the Cards will travel south to pay the Miami Marlins (30-41) a visit for a three-game set at Marlins Park. The Marlins, on the other hand, look to shake off a miserable road trip, wherein they went just 1-4.
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[sc:MLBArticles ]St. Louis Cardinals vs. Miami Marlins Preview
Where: Marlins Park, Miami
When: Tuesday, June 23, 2015, 7:00 PM ET
Line: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Miami Marlins – view all MLB lines
Betting on the St. Louis Cardinals
[sc:MLB240banner ]Even in defeat, Carlos Martinez (7-3, 2.80 ERA) managed to look good. Martinez’s record received its first blemish in six starts last Wednesday, when the right-hander allowed two runs on just five hits over six-plus innings in St. Louis’ 3-1 loss to Minnesota. Although his win streak has been snapped, it’s worth noting that the loss to the Twins was Martinez’s seventh-straight quality start, in all of which he allowed no more than two runs.
Martinez looks to stifle the opposition anew when he makes his first career start against Miami. Dating back to 2014, the Cards are 7-3 in Martinez’s last 10 road starts. Furthermore, Martinez is 4-2 with an ERA of 2.56 in seven starts away from Busch Stadium this year.
As for the offense, the Cards are hard-pressed to recover from their dismal showing in a 9-2 loss to the Phillies on Sunday. Yadier Molina, Randal Grichuk, and Jhonny Peralta have been the most productive batters for St. Louis of late. The trio will be counted upon by the Cards, who are sixth in the majors in batting average with a .266 clip, to get some timely hits.
Molina is hitting .455 (10-for-22) with two doubles and two homers over his last six games. He’s also a career .333 (8-for-24) hitter at Marlins Park with two homers and nine RBIs. Grichuk and Peralta, meanwhile, are batting .450 and .261 during the same stretch, respectively.
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Betting on the Miami Marlins
Jose Urena’s time in the Marlins’s rotation may be nearing its end with the imminent return of Jarred Cosart and Jose Fernandez from the disabled list, but he’s got at least one more start to impress in the big league. That start will come this Tuesday, when the Dominican right-hander takes on the Cardinals. The Marlins are 3-1 in the last four games with St. Louis in town.
Urena (1-3, 4.18 ERA) has pitched well in each of his last three starts, coming up with a 1-1 record and a 1.93 ERA during that span. There were some issues in his control, though, like in his last start—a 2-1 loss to the Yankees on June 17—wherein he gave up four walks and recorded just one punchout in six innings on the mound. He’ll have to tweak his control against the Cards, who own the National League’s second best on-base percentage of .329.
Speaking of getting on base, the Marlins’ leadoff hitter Dee Gordon enters the series opener with the Cards on a four-game hit streak. Gordon has raised his NL-leading batting average to .356 after going 3-for-5 in Miami’s 5-2 loss to Cincinnati on Sunday. Gordon is making sweet music at the top of the Marlins batting order of late along with Derek Dietrich, who is 8-for-22 (.364) with three home runs and five RBIs over his last seven games.
Writer’s Prediction
St. Louis wins, 3-2.
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