Marlins at Cardinals 6/7/18 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Miami Marlins will go for a rare sweep when they battle the St. Louis Cardinals from Busch Stadium on Thursday afternoon. Last night, Miami exploded for 17 hits during an 11-3 rout of St. Louis. Derek Dietrich and Starlin Castro collected four hits apiece for the Marlins, who are 17 games below .500 overall.

Rookie right-hander Elieser Hernandez (0-3 4.29 ERA) will make the fifth start of his major league career. Through 21 innings of work, Hernandez has surrendered five home runs and only struck out 10 batters. The St. Louis Cardinals have allowed 18 runs through the first two games of this series and need a solid pitching effort on Thursday. On Wednesday, SP Jack Flaherty (2-2) allowed eight hits and six runs in a losing effort. Jose Martinez had three hits and drove in a pair of runs for the Cardinals, who trail Milwaukee by 3.5 games for the NL Central Division lead.

Twenty-nine year old righty Miles Mikolas (6-1 2.49 ERA) has been a pleasant surprise in the St. Louis rotation. In eight of his last ten starts, Mikolas has allowed two runs or fewer and owns a 1.00 WHIP overall.