The Marlins are today’s biggest line move, opening at a fat +170 price for this afternoon’s game at Arizona and being bet down to +135 by 3 p.m. eastern.
Miami is 22-48 on the season but is playing some decent ball of late, winning six of its last 10. 20-year-old rookie Jose Fernandez (4-3, 3.11 ERA) takes the mound for Arizona, countered by Trevor Cahill (3-8, 3.96).
Cahill’s poor win-loss record probably contributed to some of this line move, but he hasn’t exactly had much support from his teammates. Arizona has scored one or zero runs in four of Cahill’s last five outings.
Other significant line moves today have involved the Tampa Bay Rays, Houston Astros and New York Mets.
Tampa, swept yesterday in a doubleheader in Boston, was a +139 underdog for tonight’s game veresus the Red Sox but quickly moved down to the pick ’em range (+114). The struggling Jeremy Hellickson (4-3, 5.67) opposes Red Sox starter Ryan Dempster (4-7, 4.21).
Houston, shooting for a sixth win in seven games, was a +126 home dog that has moved to +110 odds as it hosts the Brewers. Kyle Lohse (2-6, 3.84) opposes the Astros’ Erik Bedard (2-3, 4.82). It’s worth nothing that Lohse has a career ERA of 2.74 against the Houston franchise over 121.1 innings. Bedard, meanwhile, was 0-2 with an 11.88 ERA in two starts versus Milwaukee last year.
New York has gone from a +183 longshot to a more respectable +165 at Atlanta, despite the fact Mets starer Shaun Marcum is still seeking his first win of the season. The ex-Jay is 0-8 with a 5.43 ERA, though he’s 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA lifetime in 31.1 innings against Atlanta. The Braves will start Kris Medlen (3-7, 3.09), who has a 1.92 ERA in 51.2 career innings versus the Mets. Atlanta struck out 24 times yesterday as New York swept a doubleheader.