The Giants and Marlins both return to action on Friday after getting Thursday off. Both teams have played the last six games on the road as they head to South Beach for a three-games series starting Friday at 7:10 p.m. ET.
The Marlins went 3-3 on their road trip to Anaheim and San Diego, taking two games from the Angels and winning Wednesday behind a four-hit game from Agustin Ramirez. The Giants have had a tougher trip, going 2-4 in their six games away from home so far. They were swept by the Tigers to start the week and scored only five runs in the entire series. Despite their recent struggles, they’re -175 road favorites on the Moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook. The run total is set at 8.5.
Let’s take a closer look at what to expect from Marlins vs. Giants ahead of the 7:10 p.m. EST first pitch
Marlins vs. Giants prediction, preview
It’s an interesting matchup for two struggling offenses as Kyle Harrison takes the ball for the Giants in his second start of the season against veteran Cal Quantrill of the Marlins.
Quantrill is 3-4 in his 10 starts with a 6.09 ERA, 4.52 FIP and 1.49 WHIP. He has actually been very effective against lefties, holding them to a .209 average and .289 wOBA. Right-handed hitters have been good against him, though, hitting .384 in 91 plate appearances with four homers and a .444 wOBA.
Despite his high ERA, he has only allowed one earned run in three of his last four starts and has given up four hits or fewer in each of those four outings. He hasn’t pitched beyond five innings in any of those outings but has been effective in his role basically as an opener.
The Giants could also get into their bullpen early since Kyle Harrison has worked out of the bullpen primarily since joining the team at the beginning of May. He made his first start filling in for Justin Verlander (pectoral) last Saturday, going four innings on 57 pitches in a no-decision against the Nationals.
I highlighted the under on Harrison’s strikeouts as one of my top starting pitcher props of the day and also highlighted Agustin Ramirez as one of my top home run props of the day. The Marlins offense has been better than many people realize over the last few weeks and has been especially good at strikeout suppression.
The Marlins are bringing up prospect Heriberto Hernandez for his MLB debut this weekend and reportedly adding Jack Winkler to the infield mix while designating infielders Matt Mervis and Ronny Simon for assignment. As they continue to give their younger players a chance, they have shown plenty of positive trends over the last month.
Marlins vs. Giants pick, best bet
The Giants are 27-29 on the season after their three straight losses and are 13-14 on the road. The Marlins are 22-32 overall and 13-15 at home, but have been better over the last 10 games (5-5) than the Giants (3-7).
Over the last 14 days, both teams have played 12 games. The Marlins rank just above the league average with 56 runs scored over that span, while the Giants have scored the second-fewest runs while hitting just .212 with nine homers and a .284 wOBA. During that span, the Marlins are hitting .276 as a team with 11 homers and a .335 wOBA.
Best Bet: Marlins Moneyline (+142)
While it hasn’t been pretty, Quantrill has been getting the job done lately. With how stuck the Giants’ offense has looked over their last few games, I think the Marlins have enough to get the win against spot starter Kyle Harrison.
Strong Lean: Marlins over 3.5 runs (-110)
The Marlins have scored at least four runs in four of their last six games and have averaged 4.2 runs per game in 54 games this season and 4.25 runs per game at home.
