The Miami Marlins and the Chicago Cubs meet Friday in MLB action from Wrigley Field. Here’s a Marlins vs Cubs prediction. This will be the first installment in a four-game weekend series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for the game.
Miami Marlins Betting Preview
The Marlins played the San Francisco Giants in their last series and were only able to win one of the three games. On Thursday we were supposed to have the opener of the four-game weekend series between the Marlins and the Cubs, but that game got rained out. We’ll have a split doubleheader on Saturday to catch back up.
For the Friday matchup the Marlins will send out AJ Puk. This year Puk is 0-3 with a 5.91 ERA and eight strikeouts in 10.2 innings over three starts. In his career Puk is 13-14 with a 3.87 ERA in 145 games (three starts).
Chicago Cubs Betting Preview
Over on the Cubs’ side, they played fairly well versus the Arizona Diamondbacks this week, winning two of three games in that series. In a 5-3 victory on Wednesday, Chicago got a solo homer, two hits and two runs from Cody Bellinger.
It’ll be Jameson Taillon. in the starting role for the Cubs on Friday. This will be Taillon’s season debut as he returns from injury. Over his career Taillon is 59-45 with a 4.00 ERA in 173 games (172 starts). The Cubs will meet the Astros after this series.
Chicago Cubs Team Facts
- The Cubs have won each of their last seven day games at Wrigley Field following a road win.
- The Cubs have failed to cover the run line in each of their last six day games against the Marlins following a road win.
- The Cubs have led after 7 innings in each of their last six home games against opponents that held a losing record.
Miami Marlins Team Facts
- The Marlins have lost seven of their last eight games against NL Central opponents.
- The Marlins have covered the run line in each of their last six games following a loss.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Marlins’ last four games.
Marlins vs Cubs Prediction
I’ll probably stay with Chicago here. It’ll be interesting to see what Taillon can do in his return. This should be a pretty soft landing for him to get started at least. As for Puk, he hasn’t been too bad over his last two starts with three earned in 8.2 innings total. That said, Puk is still waiting on that W.
On Wednesday, in their victory over the Diamondbacks, Chicago had a pretty solid offensive outing overall. The Cubs notched nine team hits overall, and four different players (Bellinger, Dansby Swanson, Michael Busch and Mike Tauchman) had multiple hits. It would be nice to see a few more batters get in on the action in Friday’s opener, but regardless, Chicago should be in good shape with Taillon on the mound if all goes well.