Daily Sports Betting Preview 10/2/2020: MLB, Bundesliga, French Open

• The Miami Marlins have +180 odds to defeat the Chicago Cubs.
• Union Berlin are +110 favorites to beat FSV Mainz.
• Kiki Bertens, after suffering from cramps last round, is a +175 underdog to Katerina Siniakova.

LAS VEGAS - Today’s edition of the Daily Sports Betting Preview brings three great Friday betting opportunities to the table.

First, in Major League Baseball, the Miami Marlins face off against the Chicago Cubs in a Game 2 that could send the Marlins through to the next round.

Then, in the German Bundesliga, Union Berlin battles FSV Mainz. Finally, in the French Open, Kiki Bertens is challenged by Katerina Siniakova.

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get started!

Marlins vs. Cubs Betting

The Miami Marlins are in prime position to start their miracle run through the MLB Postseason.

The Marlins have only made the playoffs two times in their history, in 1997 and in 2003. In both years, they won the World Series.

In other words, the Marlins have never made the playoffs without winning the World Series.

They are already up a game on the powerful Chicago Cubs, so a victory here could push them one step closer to keeping that streak alive.

The Marlins are a shocking team - they shouldn’t be here, let alone already be up one game.

They were a team that entered the season with some of the longest odds to win the World Series, and compounded that with a COVID-19 breakout that left more than 15 players out for extended periods of time.

Despite all of that, here they are - underdogs, of course, but in the conversation.

The Marlins have some very enticing odds, but it’s worth keeping in mind that the odds are the way they are for a reason - the Marlins genuinely are a worse team than the Cubs.

The pitching today is an interesting matchup between Marlins rookie Sixto Sanchez and Cubs veteran Yu Darvish.

Sanchez was electric in his first few games of the season, but has been poor in his last couple of starts.

Darvish, on the other hand, has been great this season, but has a history of questionable playoff performances.

The sportsbooks expect this matchup to be low scoring - the Over/Under line for total runs is set at 7.

There’s even some shading towards the Under on that line. It has -115 odds while the Over has -105 odds.

This game provides a multitude of betting opportunities to MLB bettors, and could be a fascinating one.

Union Berlin vs. FSV Mainz

For the soccer bettors amongst the readership, the Bundesliga provides an interesting wagering opportunity or two in the form of the matchup between FSV Mainz and Union Berlin.

Given that the Bundesliga season is only a few matchdays old, and that last season was so close to this one due to COVID-19, there might be information to be gleaned from last season.

Mainz finished 13th in the Bundesliga, with a record of 11-4-19, and a goal differential of -21.

Union Berlin finished 11th in the Bundesliga, and had a record of 12-5-17, and a goal differential of -17.

The last time these two teams faced off in the Bundesliga was before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the sport down, back in May.

At that time, they fought to a 1-1 draw.

In the current Bundesliga season (which, it must be noted, is only two games long so far), Union Berlin have a draw and a loss, and FSV Mainz have two losses.

This puts them at 14th and 17th place, respectively.

In terms of goal differential, Union Berlin is sitting at -2, while FSV Mainz is at -5.

Overall, the odds seem to reflect FSV Mainz’s poor start to the season, and their having finished below Berlin last year.

That said, the two teams do seem capable of playing equal levels of soccer, and they did draw the last time they met.

This matchup could get interesting as far as soccer betting goes.

Katerina Siniakova vs. Kiki Bertens French Open Betting

The French Open continues today, and the most interesting matchup, by far, is between Kiki Bertens and Katerina Siniakova.

Bertens is the fifth seed in the tournament, and is ranked in the top 10 by the WTA, while Siniakova is ranked 61st.

Despite this, Siniakova is actually favored on the moneyline against the much higher ranked Bertens.

Normally, one suspects that the odds would not be lopsided in favor of the lower ranked player.

However, there are a confluence of factors at play with these odds.

First and likely foremost, Bertens had to leave the court in a wheelchair on September 30th, after her victory over Sara Errani.

This was due to serious cramps that, according to Bertens, impacted her ability to play during the match.

Errani was not amused.

"She leaves the court in a chair and now she's in the locker room and eating in the restaurant, perfect,” said Errani. “She exaggerated. It made me very angry. So, well done to her, but she can win without doing that."

So, what does that mean for sports bettors? It means that Bertens’ health is a question mark. She had to leave the court in a wheelchair, but her opponent clearly thinks she was exaggerating her level of pain.

This means that live betting could be a great tool for those tennis bettors who wish to wager on this matchup.

If Bertens looks like herself, getting the ostensibly better player at long odds could be a great way to make some profit on this wager.