Cardinals vs Marlins: MLB Betting Odds - Opening Day Picks |
| Written by Brock Lanning |
| Wednesday, 04 April 2012 12:53 |
 The Miami Marlins will open the new season with a new $515-million dollar ballpark and also a new manager in Ozzie Guillén when the squad takes the field against the St. Louis Cardinals tonight at 7:00pm EST which can be seen live on ESPN and online at ESPN3. Vegas MLB betting odds for the Cardinals vs Marlins have listed Miami as -175 favorites to win at home while St. Louis would pay-out $160 for the home win. If you are wondering what that means, you would have to risk -$175 to win $100 on the Marlins to win the game while taking the Cardinals as underdogs for $100 would return a profit of +$160. The runline also favors Miami at -1.5 (+115) while opening day picks have St. Louis +1.5 (-135). The baseball runline is another form of wagering where a particular team would need to win by +/- runs. For tonight's game on ESPN, Miami would need to win by more than 1.5-runs to pay-out +$115 on a $100 wager and the Cardinals would need to win with +1.5-runs to pay-out $100 on a -$135 bet. The over/under total has been set at 7 OVER (-115) which means you need to risk -$115 to win $100 if you want to take OVER 7-runs in the game while taking the UNDER would cost -$105 to win $100. Guillén will open the Marlins season by sending righthander Josh Johnson to the mound while Cardinals manager Mike Matheny will counter with righthander Kyle Lohse. Johnson finished last season with a 1.64-ERA while Lohse ended the year with a 3.39-ERA. Handicapping trends and MLB betting odds favor a Miami victory tonight after an offseason that saw shortstop Jose Reyes, starting pitchers Mark Buehrle, Carlos Zambrano and closer Heath Bell all head to South Florida to wear the rainbow uniform of the Marlins. Despite the acquisitions and being favored in opening day baseball picks, Miami went a worrisome 0-5 in their last five games vs the Cardinals last season and 1-4 when playing at home. The St. Louis Cardinals will take the field tonight without long time manager Tony La Russa and three time MVP Albert Pujols who left for Los Angeles in January for a 10-year, $240-million offered by the Angels. In order for Matheny to fill La Russa's shoes and get the Cardinals back into the playoffs, he will need to find a way to replace the 37-home runs and 99-RBI's powered by Pujols last year. World Series MVP, David Freese, could be that person but will need Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman to help provide a balanced attack. Another issue currently in the St. Louis dug-out is the status of starting pitcher Chris Carpenter who is out for an unknown amount of time with a nerve irratation in his throwing shoulder. Bookmakers are not expecting a high scoring game as Cardinals vs Marlins odds on the over/under total have recently gone UNDER in four out of the last five games and 12 out of the Marlins last twelve overall. That being, it's opening day in a new ballpark so don't be surprised to see some runs scored tonight on ESPN. Be sure to visit Bovada to receive a $100 free bet for wagering on tonight's 2012 season opener and try live baseball betting for as little as $1 on each pitch, hit and catch as it happens during the game! Opening Day Picks: OVER 7 St. Louis Cardinals (0-0 SU) vs Miami Marlins (0-0 SU) |
| Last Updated on Wednesday, 04 April 2012 13:00 |
