MLB Baseball
2026-07-08 - Seattle Mariners at Miami Marlins
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : Major League Baseball
Wednesday 8th July 2026 - Scheduled 6:40pm EST
11:40pm (British Time)
Preview
The Seattle Mariners (47-45) are back above 0.500 and in a position that many would have expected as they lead the American League West. However, the Mariners will have plenty of work to do in the second 'half' of the regular season if they are going to make the post-season and they are just 0.5 games ahead of the Texas Rangers and 2 games ahead of the Houston Astros to underline the challenges ahead.
They will be continuing this inter-League series with the hot Miami Marlins (50-42) who have won four in a row and are just 3 games out of the Division lead in the National League East. The Marlins could easily be considered the biggest surprise in the Major League through this stage of the 2026 season, at least from a positive point of view, and Miami will be thinking about a return to the Playoffs.
Miami will hand the ball to Tyler Phillips in this game and the pitcher is going to be feeling the pressure as he looks to retain his spot in the starting rotation. Tyler Phillips has a 1-3 record and 3.52 ERA in twenty-three appearances this season, but seven have been in starts and the pitcher has struggled in those much more than when he has been coming out of the bullpen.
This is going to be the sixth start in a row for Tyler Phillips who has a 1-2 record and a 5.96 ERA in the last five. It is not going to be a decision that Miami will rush, but they will be wondering whether they need to change how they use Phillips and so a big performance from the pitcher is needed to give the team something to analyse through the All Star Break.
Tyler Phillips has struggled against the Seattle Mariners in the small sample of appearances against them and the visiting team will be turning to George Kirby, who has been pitching with very strong consistency.
The 7-7 record and 3.81 ERA in seventeen starts in 2026 means George Kirby continues to perform at a steady level for Seattle. After a rough run from the end of May into June, George Kirby has earned back to back decision wins having thrown 14 Innings in those two starts and given up just three earned runs.
Two previous starts against the Miami Marlins have seen George Kirby produce a 1-0 record and 1.38 ERA and that will give the road team some confidence as they bid to bounce back from the defeat on Tuesday.
Prediction
Getting in front of a hot team like the Miami Marlins is always going to be a difficult place to be, but the Seattle Mariners are playing well enough to get after Tyler Phillips and that may give the chance to level things up in this inter-League series.
The Pick :
Miami Marlins 4-5 Seattle Mariners
