Before taking the field in his native Venezuela to play for the Lions of Caracas, Urbina described himself as “more mature” and said he was “very excited to play baseball again.”

“I’m excited to be here,” Urbina told reporters at the University Stadium in Caracas, where the Lions played the Zulia Eagles.

The 38-year-old pitcher was released from prison on Sunday after serving roughly half of his 14-year sentence for attempted murder during a dispute over a gun on Oct. 16, 2005.

Urbina was found guilty of attacking and injuring workers with a machete. Several other men participated in the attack at his family’s ranch, located about 25 miles from Caracas.

Urbina, who pitched for the Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies, has repeatedly denied involvement with the incident that landed him in prison, saying he was sleeping at the time of the attack.

A two-time All-Star, Urbina saved 237 big league games from 1995-2005. He had two saves in the 2003 World Series to help the Marlins beat the New York Yankees, and last pitched in the majors with the Phillies in 2005.

Urbina told reporters he hopes to play professional baseball in the United States again.

“The first order of business is pitching in Venezuela,” he said.

The post Ugueth Urbina returns to baseball appeared first on IdealCapper.

The Marlins will trot Chris Volstad out to the mound in this one. Righthander Volstad has a 5-9 record and a 5.60 ERA this season.

Volstad’s opponent in this one will be Wade LeBlanc. The Padres lefthander has a 4.54 ERA to go along with a 1-2 record this season.

Oddsmakers currently have the Padres listed as 135-moneyline favorites versus the Marlins, while the game’s total is sitting at 7.

In their last action, Florida was a 3-1 loser on the road against the Padres. Bettors on San Diego at -120 on the moneyline collected their winnings from that game, while the total score (4) sent UNDER bettors home happy as well.

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Current streak:
Florida has lost 2 straight games.

Team records:
Florida: 57-67 SU
San Diego: 56-70 SU

Florida most recently:
When playing on Friday are 5-5
Before playing San Diego are 4-6
After playing San Diego are 2-8
After a loss are 2-8

San Diego most recently:
When playing on Friday are 6-4
Before playing Florida are 5-5
After playing Florida are 7-3
After a win are 4-6

A few trends to consider:
Florida is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing on the road against San Diego
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Florida’s last 8 games when playing on the road against San Diego
Florida is 13-6 SU in its last 19 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Florida’s last 6 games on the road
San Diego is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Florida
The total has gone OVER in 5 of San Diego’s last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of San Diego’s last 8 games when playing at home against Florida
The total has gone OVER in 12 of San Diego’s last 17 games at home

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