Miami Marlins vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Predictions, Picks and MLB Preview – August 21, 2016

Miami Marlins vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Preview

Where: PNC Park, Pittsburgh

When: Sunday, August 21, 2016, 1:35 PM ET

Line: Miami Marlins (+133) at Pittsburgh Pirates (-143); total: 9.0 – view all MLB lines

TV Broadcast: FS-F / ROOTPIT

Writer’s Pick: Pirates (-143)

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Betting on the Miami Marlins (+133)

A key home run and a stellar pitching performance propelled the Miami Marlins (64-59) to a 3-1 victory on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. And with that win, the Marlins have now won their last five contests against the Pirates, and will look to extend that streak to six games in Sunday’s series finale.

While Michael Phelps stole headlines with his unprecedented run in Rio, Miami’s starter on Saturday, David Phelps (of no relation to the living Olympic legend), put a out a stellar outing of his own as well, pitching six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts. Meanwhile, it was unheralded Xavier Sruggs who connected on a two-run long ball in the fourth inning for his first-career home run in the majors that kept his team in the lead for good.

However, the Marlins better generate more runs on Sunday as the hard-throwing Jose Urena (1-4, 6.80 ERA) will be their starter in Sunday’s contest. Although Urena’s fastball can reach the 96-mph range, his command has been all over the place, as the Dominican righty has given up a total of 13 runs over his last couple of starts and has not won a decision since July 19.

Betting on the Pittsburgh Pirates (-143)

Sunday’s loss to the Marlins has now put the Pittsburgh Pirates (62-58) half a game behind the Marlins in the NL Wild Card race and a full two games for the final Wild Card spot. Making matters worse is the fact that the Pirates have now lost four of their last five home games as well.

Then again, the Buccos had won four-straight games and six of the last seven before losing the first two contests against Miami this week. In each of those wins, the team scored no less than four runs, so good hitting will once again be key for Pittsburgh.

Look for second baseman Josh Harrison to keep his hot bat aflame and for his fellow teammates to hopefully follow suit. Harrison has a six-game hit streak going with a total of 11 hits, three doubles and four RBIs during that span.

And if Pittsburgh’s offense somehow struggles, at least it’ll have Ryan Vogelsong (2-2, 3.20 ERA) on the mound this Sunday. The righty from Charlotte had a relatively rough outing in his last start against his former team (Giants), but has still been rather superb overall after a suffering an eye injury. Since his return on August 4, Vogelsong has only allowed a total of five runs in three starts.

Writer’s Prediction

The Pirates (-143) prevent the Marlins from completing the three-game series sweep with a solid 5-3 victory.

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