The Florida Marlins are slight favorites in MLB gambling on Friday as they host the San Diego Padres in the first game of a three-game set.
The Padres continue to be a surprise team in the National League in baseball gambling while the Marlins are inconsistent as usual.
MLB gambling odds on the Marlins are so tough to predict. The Marlins have some very talented players like Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson but they are still below .500. Chris Volstad is expected to get the start for Florida in this game that opens up a six-game home stand for the Marlins. Volstad is 4-6 on the season with a 4.39 ERA. His last two starts were against Tampa Bay and he got a win and a no-decision. He went 5 2/3 innings last time out and gave up four runs and seven hits. Volstad has just one win in his last five decisions.
Clayton Richard is expected to get the start on Friday for the Padres. He is 4-4 this season with a very nice ERA of 2.93. He was not that great last time out against Baltimore as he allowed four earned runs on eight hits in six innings.
The Marlins have won six of the last ten in MLB gambling against the Padres. The teams met in Florida in late April and the Padres took two of the three games. Two of those games also went over the total in baseball gambling. This has been a road team series as the Padres also took two of three at Florida last season. All three of those games went over the total.
San Diego wins with pitching as they have the best ERA in the league. The Padres are excellent at home and they are also above .500 on the road. The Padres are normally underdogs on the road which makes them even more valuable since bettors get plus money.
Florida is just a .500 team at home this season vs. the MLB gambling odds. That is a big part of their problem. Good teams simply have to win more than they lost at home and the Marlins are not doing it. Florida is just outside of the top ten in both hitting and pitching so it is hard to know what to expect from them on a daily basis.