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The Miami Marlins and Chicago Cubs square off on Sunday, August 7 with first pitch set for 2:20 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Jesus Luzardo (2-4, 3.97 ERA) gets the starting nod for Miami, while Chicago will send Adrian Sampson (0-2, 3.74 ERA) to the mound.
The Marlins (48-59) have lost the first two games of this series and find themselves 1-7 over their last eight games. They need an offensive spark as they have scored three runs or fewer in each of their last seven games. The southpaw Luzardo is making his eighth start of the season. He pitched five innings and have up three hits and two earned runs to take his fourth loss of the season in his last start. Miami has an off day Monday and then continues its road trip on Tuesday with a three-game divisional set with the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Cubs (43-63) are happy the Marlins are in town as their five-game losing streak before this series has ended. Chicago picked up the 4-0 victory on Saturday as backup catcher P.J. Higgins hit a home run with Drew Smyly and Mark Leiter Jr. combining for the shutout. Sampson is hoping to continue that streak as he makes his eighth start of the year. In his last outing, he pitched four innings and gave up five hits, and four earned runs while striking out six for his second loss of the year. The Cubs will welcome the Washington Nationals to town on Monday for a three-game series.
Marlins vs. Cubs
Pitchers: Jesus Luzardo vs. Adrian Sampson
First pitch: 2:20 p.m. ET
Marlins local broadcast: Bally Sports Sun
Cubs local broadcast: Marquee Sports Network
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)
Odds, picks & predictions
Run Line: Marlins -190
Run total: 9
Moneyline odds: Marlins +110, Cubs -130
Moneyline pick: Chicago -130
Even though Sampson is coming off a rough outing, Miami has just been bad. The Cubs aren’t exactly lighting up the stat sheet, but they are earning wins. If they can get to Luzardo early, they should pick up the win on Sunday to complete the three-game series sweep.
Player prop pick: Joey Wendle under 1.5 hits (-185)
Wendle is hitting .261 this season and enters 2-5 with two doubles against Sampson. Unfortunately, he is slumping like most of the Miami batting order. He is 1-17 in his last four games. Wendle should tally fewer than two hits in Sunday’s game.
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