Florida Marlins vs. Baltimore Orioles Preview - June 24th

Two underachieving teams take the field Thursday night in a battle to prove that the season has not ended prematurely for either of these teams. The Florida Marlins and Baltimore Orioles continue their interleague battle with Baltimore hoping that home-field advantage plays an important role in the success of their ball club. The Marlins, on the other hand, are looking to climb back into Playoff contention in the National League's East division with a win over what should be a less skilled opponent. Betsfreebets.com is advising all sports bettors to take the Florida Marlins on the road as their free wager for this particular contest. While the Marlins have played perfect baseball every game this season, they have competed well enough to at least be considered a legitimate playoff threat to the Phillies and Braves. Josh Johnson would probably be the starter for the National League in the All-Star Game if it wasn't for Rockies' ace Ubaldo Jimenez's amazing start to the season. Johnson currently stands at 7-2 with a 1.86 ERA while striking out 89 in 92 innings pitched. Anibal Sanchez is also pitching quite well right now, but unfortunately for the Marlins, this is where it ends. Chris Volstad, Nate Robertson, and Ricky Nolasco have all struggled to pitch well enough to be effective at this point in the season. The bullpen has not been bad, either, but they still have not been great by any means. Clay Hensley and Leo Nunez have been the backbone of the relief staff, and they are both having outstanding seasons by anybody's standards. Dan Uggla leads the team in home runs, but unfortunately, that number currently stands at 14. Besides Hanley Ramirez, there are no other Marlins right now that have hit double digit home runs to this point in the season. Ramirez continues to play like the All-Star shortstop that he is, but he hasn't had enough support for his teammates up to this point in the year. Against the Orioles, though, this should prove not to be a problem, as the Marlins are simply the better team. Bettors can expect a solid Marlins victory and should place their free bet on the team from South Florida. The Orioles pitching staff has been absolutely putrid during the first three months of the season. When Jeremy Guthrie's 3-8 record with a 3.97 ERA is the best numbers that your pitching staff can offer, you are definitely in trouble. Such is the case with Baltimore, as they try to find the answers relating to why they are playing so badly. The bullpen hasn't been terrible, but they have definitely not been good by any means and provide little support to the starters when called upon. Ty Wigginton continues to have a resurgent year at the plate while Luke Scott also continues to enjoy success near the midway point of the season. The real disappointment has been the play of Matt Wieters, as he is only hitting .226 right now. Expect that to change in the future as he becomes more comfortable at the big league level. The Orioles just do not have enough on their team right now to compete with a decent team like the Marlins, which is why Florida is being listed as the free wager play for Thursday night. It is important that bettors don't get too caught up in the Marlins lackluster numbers, as they carry little weight when playing a team like the Orioles. While the O's no doubt want to win games, they just don't have the skill necessary to do so. Betsfreebets.com believes that the Marlins present too many hurdles for Baltimore to jump over and therefore will fulfill the free bet dreams of bettors everywhere.