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Over the last month and a half the Marlins and Mets have been involved in three series. Even for division teams that is abnormal for a short stretch. Today, Tom Koehler heads to the mound for the Marlins while Dice-K does for the Mets.

Miami still ranks as one of the better teams in baseball for scoring but is slowly beginning to drop. Their bats have been cold for the last four weeks. Wins they have been able to get as a team have come via a flurry of runs in one inning. They’re just not getting the inning after inning offensive production you’d expect.

Conversely the Mets have hit a bit of a stride thanks to their pitching staff. All five starters have had decent outings as of late, including Dice-K. Many have been waiting for Dice-K to have a major slump and be sent back to the bullpen. Thus far though he has managed each outing fairly well.

With how poor the Marlins are hitting the ball, Dice-K just needs to sustain control with his walks. For Koehler, look for him to command this game after an atrocious outing in Arizona in his last start.

This total is sitting at 7.5 runs -110. Play the first five under as well to offset any possible late inning runs giving up by the Marlins staff.

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The Yankees are struggling to produce runs as of late. Pitching has been erratic for them. By swapping Nuno for Brandon McCarthy the Yankees hope to find the veteran ace that CC Sabathia was supposed to be.

At this stage of the season the Yankees look like a tired old baseball team. The usual reliability of Tanaka came to another blow yesterday. Cleveland jumped on top of several of his pitches for two home runs.

Cleveland is one of those teams that gets hot and cold unlike any other team in baseball. They’ve had a couple of different winning and losing streaks to showcase this.

Josh Tomlin heads to the mound today for the Indians and should find success against the struggling Yankees. In his last three starts he has had two poor performances and one outstanding against the Mariners. Due to his erratic play there is value on the Indians today. They opened around -114 and are now at -120.

Though Tomlin may give up a few runs, I think the Indians bats are confident after success against Tanaka. Tanaka had been 10-0 against teams he was facing for the first time. Breaking that streak has to be a boost of confidence to the Indians.

Take Cleveland to win again against the Yankees.

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The Miami Marlins are reeling but still are in position to get themselves back in their divisional race. Just two weeks ago they were the front runners ahead of the Braves and Nationals. Their recent slump and the Braves/Nationals win streaks have caused a wide gap between them and their division leaders.

In baseball a five game lead can disappear rapidly. Miami has found themselves in several extra inning and one-run games that have been brutal losses. Yesterday they lost to the Cardinals with the bases loaded and 1-out. Casey McGhee hit into a game ending double play. The day before that they lost to the Phillies by giving up two late inning runs.

The story on how the Marlins lose is becoming a repeat story.

One bright spot the Marlins hope to receive dividends is with their young pitcher Andrew Heaney. He has had his problems controlling his command in early innings. This will be his fourth start with a current era of 5.29. It’s much higher than his style of pitching warrants. He just needs to settle down in the early innings.

Timing is everything and today should be the day Heaney fills comfortable. He was on his way to a solid outing last week against Oakland, until a rough 6th inning occurred. After allowing zero runs, he gave up three two-out hits, including a 3-run home run that allotted four runs in the inning.

Look for the Marlins to erase last night’s rough loss and get a win today in St. Louis

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Today’s free play comes in the Tampa Bay vs New York. The Yankees are coming off a horrible Sunday night outing against Boston. Value on today’s game is set currently at -105 on both the Yankees and Rays.

Tampa Bay is coming off a great series against the Baltimore Orioles. They displayed some hitting for the first time in consecutive games that transferred into wins. Duplicating that will be the goal as Chris Archer takes the mound today. Archer has arguably been the best rotation pitcher for the Rays. Commanding complete control of games with a great fastball and long outings.

He had a solid month and a half on the mound before having a rough outing against Pittsburgh. His strikeout rate has not waned but he is starting to show a bit of inconsistency for walks and hits. The Yankees are not struggling hitting the ball and should be able to produce runs.

Those looking at Tampa Bay and expecting a replication of strong bats need to calm down. They’ve struggled all season. Now is the time to capitalize on value on the Yankees. Enjoy and good luck on today’s play.

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An interesting interleague series begins today in South Florida, and you can check the betting at allpro. One of the hottest teams in baseball squares off against a team hovering around .500. The A’s continue to thrive off the organizational pedigree. They’ve shot up the future odds charts to be one of the top favorites in the AL and overall for the World Series.

This is a pivotal series for the Marlins to try and find a way to win at least two games. They’ve been in several extra innings games as of late but have had no success in securing wins. With how close the race is in their division, they could end up biting the Marlins.

Pitching has not been the Marlins main source of woes. They’ve actually had a steady dose of solid outings from much of their staff. One pitcher who is struggling is today’s starter in Anthony Desclafani. He has not shown big league ability in his last several outings, including his latest against the Mets.

Teams are scorching his pitchers for base hits and home runs. Facing the Oakland A’s could be the recipe to see Desclafani sent back down to the minors.

Jesse Chavez is the opposing pitcher for the A’s today and has been quite the surprise. Miami’s offense has been sputtering but is getting on base consistently with Giancarlo Stanton and Casey McGhee. Last night they hit three solo shot home runs. Their lineup can be deadly if they can just get on base more frequently.

With the way Desclafani is pitching, you can’t imagine him lasting five to six innings. Miami just wore their bullpen down yet again with seven innings of pitching against the Phillies. AJ Ramos pitched over 50. Taxing their bullpen has been an issue over the last three weeks.

Free play tonight goes on the over in this matchup of 8.

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For Monday’s free play, we are going to take a look at game one of Miami vs Philadelphia. The Marlins are starting to show signs of fatigue with their bats and bullpen. Strong starts by their starters have been nullified by poor hitting and bullpen woes lately.

In the last two games against the Mets, Miami rested some of their regular starters to get new life in the lineup. It worked a bit as Miami scored five runs yesterday. It wasn’t enough to offset a poor outing from the starting pitcher in Anthony DeSciafani. A tired bullpen stood know chance and allowed four more runs—for a total of 11.

Philadelphia on the other hand, has finally found a groove with their batting order. They’re getting runs from all areas of their lineup. Suddenly they’re back in contention after no signs of hope a few weeks ago.

I’m not sure the Phillies can sustain the way they’re playing. This same lineup has been configured for multiple years, and is what it is.

But for the first game of this series the money is on the over. Nathan Eovaldi has had solid numbers but is being relied on to much by the Marlins staff. Trying to compensate for a poor bullpen has meant leaving in Eovaldi for seven innings a start.

Expect the Phillies to get an early run and a few later before Eovaldi exits. The way the Marlins bullpen is right now, they’re assured an additional run or two late.

With that said, I also expect the Marlins bats to get out of their week and a half long slump. Roberto Hernandez is the perfect pitcher for the Marlins swing for the fences type of lineup. He is inconsistent with his delivery. Facing a power lineup like the Marlins is a disaster waiting to happen for Hernandez.

This will be one of those high scoring affairs. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Miami have a four run inning.

Play the over today.