I’ll take the Miami Marlins against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon.  Miami had eight runs on Wednesday and saw home runs from Griffin Conine and Heriberto Hernandez. Conine got five hits on the day as Miami cruised to victory. Miami’s bullpen was also strong, tossing three innings of scoreless relief. Miami now has won four consecutive games including the first two of this series by scores of 2-0 and 8-2. The Marlins are 62-59 overall but a much stronger 38-24 at loanDepot park, its best 62-game home record since winning the World Series way back in 2003.

Miami once again holds the edge in the starting pitching department on Thursday. Tyler Phillips (3-5, 3.47 ERA) will take the mound for Miami while Pittsburgh counters with Braxton Ashcraft (11-5, 4.08 ERA). Phillips outpitched his record in his last outing against the Angels last week, surrendering just one run over 4 1/3 innings of work. If he can pitch to that standard for five innings on Thursday, Miami’s bullpen should be able to close it out.

Ashcraft hasn’t been as reliable recently for Pittsburgh. Against Milwaukee his last time out, he gave up four runs (four hits and a walk) over five innings. Pittsburgh needs him to bounce back here against a suddenly scrappy Miami lineup that doesn’t seem to have one go-to hitter these days.

Plus, Pittsburgh has been horrible lately. The Pirates are 1-7 since the deadline and have scored two runs combined in the first two games of this series. Miami held Pittsburgh to four or fewer runs in both of those wins while pitching and playing strong defense.

Miami closer Pete Fairbanks is also back on hand after not needing him Wednesday. He struck out two for a perfect ninth inning save on Tuesday, so Miami left him out of Wednesday’s victory. Fairbanks will be available should this game come down to the wire, which is yet another advantage Miami holds over Pittsburgh.

Miami’s in a groove, winning four straight and playing stellar baseball at home. Phillips has the better ERA as well and Pittsburgh just isn’t the same team without their best players. Take the Marlins on Thursday. 

Jim's Play: 902. Marlins

I’ll take the New York Yankees to win against the Seattle Mariners Thursday afternoon. Max Fried starts for New York, and they have home-field advantage while Seattle is in the middle of a losing streak. I like those factors for New York in terms of overall matchup strength.

Max Fried is obviously the key here. He’s posted a 4-3 record with a 2.88 ERA and 0.97 WHIP this season. Seattle knows how tough Fried can be, too. He pitched seven shutout innings on just three hits during the Yankees’ 5-0 win back in March.

Seattle counters with Logan Gilbert (8-7, 3.42 ERA, 145 K). Gilbert can obviously pitch well, too, but he has struggled against the Yankees in the past. In eight career starts versus New York, Gilbert owns a 2-4 record and 6.80 ERA. Yankee Stadium is notorious for turning pitchers’ mistakes into extra-base hits, so his history against the Yankees concerns me.

Also, speaking of Yankee Stadium… Seattle bats were completely nonexistent against New York’s pitching earlier this series. Wednesday’s 10-5 win was a welcome sight for Yankees fans. New York hit five homers including two from Trent Grisham, who drove in four runs. Spencer Jones added two doubles and three RBIs, too. This came just one day after New York won 4-1, scoring four unanswered runs to end the game.

Seattle is going in the wrong direction at the worst possible time. Wednesday’s game was their sixth straight loss and 15th defeat in their last 20 overall. They currently sit at 56-65 while posting a horrendous 23-36 record on the road. New York is 68-52 and has won four of their last five.

With Max Fried on the bump against a Mariners team losing six of their last seven, poor career numbers from Gilbert against New York and a strong Yankees bullpen, New York is my bet Thursday afternoon.

Jim's Play: 910. Yankees

I’ll take the Tennessee Titans to win and cover against the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night. I think the deciding factor is how the two teams will approach their preseason opener.

Tennessee opened a underdog but has moved to the favorite now. Head coach Robert Saleh already sounded like a man with a plan when discussing the upcoming game. All healthy starters will play for the Titans, and Saleh wants his first-team units to stay on the field for more than one series. That's big since most starters on teams won't see any action the entire preseason. 

San Francisco seems destined to do the exact opposite of Tennessee. Kyle Shanahan said that most 49ers starters won’t play on Thursday. San Francisco is dealing with injuries and questions at skill positions, including Christian McCaffrey (muscle tightness) and Nick Bosa (knee tendinitis). Those guys won’t be practicing or playing significant snaps just to get reps in an exhibition game.

Another reason I like Tennessee is because of its quarterback room. Ward is entrenched as the starter after posting 3,169 yards as a rookie, but he has plenty of competition behind him in Mitchell Trubisky, Will Levis and Hendon Hooker. That experience — and a lack of job security — will push Tennessee’s quarterbacks to perform well in-game.

San Francisco’s best quarterback is Brock Purdy, who is followed by Mac Jones and Kurtis Rourke. If Purdy doesn’t play, a lot of this game will be played by backups. Shanahan also has several position battles and players working through injuries, which could impact how he manages the game.

The Titans defense is another reason to like them here. Saleh will be installing his scheme, so game conditions against San Francisco will help him gauge how things look against opposing offenses. Jeffery Simmons is a big piece for Tennessee’s defensive front, and the Titans should be able to generate pressure against second and third-teamers.

While the 49ers may have more talent overall entering the season, it won’t matter as much in this game. Preseason matchups are usually decided by which team plays more, quarterback depth and coaching strategy. Tennessee excels at all three aspects heading into this game.

Jim's Play: 113. Titans