The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped the first game of the series with the Miami Marlins. It is now time to continue our MLB odds series with a Pirates-Marlins prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.

The Pirates have now lost ten straight games, and have dropped from first in the NL Central to fourth, 5.5 games back of the Reds. Yesterday was a comeback win for the Marlins. Garrett Cooper hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning to give the Marlins the lead and complete the comeback. The Pirates now sit at 34-40 on the season.

Meanwhile, the Marlins have won six of their last ten, and are in second in the NL Central. They sit at 43-33 on the season and are six games back of the Braves for first in the division. Luis Arraez grabbed another hit in the game, to bring his batting average to .397 on the season. That is the highest through 75 games since 1999.

Here are the Pirates-Marlins MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Pirates-Marlins Odds

Pittsburgh Pirates: +1.5 (-134)

Miami Marlins: -1.5 (+112)

Over: 8 (-108)

Under: 8 (-112)

How To Watch Pirates vs. Marlins

TV: Apple TV +

Stream: MLB.TV

Time: 6:40 PM ET/ 3:40 PM PT

*Find out how to watch Pirates-Marlins LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Pirates Could Cover The Spread

Just about everything is going wrong for the Pirates. They were once 34-30 and in sole possesion of first place. Now they are six games under .500 and one of their best bats is heading to the IL. The offense has ground to a half. In the ten-game losing streak they have been shut out three times and scored just 24 runs, an average of 2.4 runs per game.

This season the Pirates are 24th in the majors in runs scored with an average of 4.15 runs per game. They are 21st in batting average, 19th in on bae percentage, and 22nd in slugging so far this year. Ke'Bryan Hayes has been one of the best bats in the lineup as of late. He had a home run and a double last night in the loss. He has 12 RBIs on the month with three home runs while hitting .365 for the month.

While Hayes has been good this month, the last week is just a .280 batting average with three RBIs. That average leads the team in the last week though. Only Carlos Santana, and Bryan Reynolds, who is now on the IL, have hit over .200 over the last week. They are also the only three players with more than one RBI. Only three other players even have a single run batted in, while the team has struck out 61 times in the last week. Jack Suwinski has been a major part of that. He is zero for his last 18 at-bats with eight strikeouts.

Luis Ortiz will be on the hill today for the Pirates. He is 1-3 so far this year with a 4.30 ERA. So far in June he is 0-1 with a 4.24 ERA. His last start was his best of the month. He went 4.2 innings while giving up just one run and four hits. He has only pitched over five innings once this year, so the bullpen will have to be on point today most likely. Yesterday they blew the lead, and have been doing so consistently.

Why The Marlins Could Cover The Spread

The Marlins do not score a ton of runs. They are 23rd in the majors in runs scored, but do sit eighth in the majors in batting average, 13th in OBP, and 21st in slugging. Luis Arraez is the team leader for them on offense. He has another long hit streak going, sitting at five games. Arraez is hitting .436 this month with 15 RBIs,  a home run, and four doubles. He has also scored 13 times this month.

Jorge Soler is the other main part of this offense. He is tired for third in the major with 21 home runs and has also riven in 45 this year. He has driven in 10 runs this month with four home runs while batting .267. Even better has been his on-base percentage. He has an OBP of .408 this month due to 14 walks in the month. Bryan De La Cruz has been driving in a ton of runs as of late. He has two more RBIs yesterday and that gives him 18 this month. He is only hitting .222 on the month, but with the number of runs he is driving in, the low batting average is just fine.

On the hill today for the Marlins will be Jesus Luzardo who is 6-5 on the season with a 4.05 ERA. Luzardo has been up and down as of late. Last time out he went 6 innings and gave up just two runs while striking out five to get the win. The time before that, he gave up six runs in four innings. He has repeated that pattern over his last six starts. Every other start he has given up five or more runs, while he has given up two or fewer in the opposite starts.

Final Pirates-Marlins Prediction & Pick

The Pirates are reeling. They cannot find a way to score. When they have, the bullpen has blown the lead. The losing streak will end at some point, but not against Luzardo. Luzardo has struck out seven or more batters in five of his last seven starts. With how much the Pirates are striking out right now, that is going to continue. Take the Marlins in this one.

Final Pirates-Marlins Prediction & Pick:  Marlins -1.5 (+112)