rockies win .
Arizona Diamondbacks Colorado Rockies
I've decide to do this now as I have a busy weekend comming up with the Union World Cup,I'm off to Wellington for the League test in Wellington between the Kiwis and Kangaroos and other personal things,so lets get this one out of the way now.....
This series promises alot with two young sides with two excellent pitching rosters and Bullpens going H2H,actualy this is the best of the two up comming series and the hardest to pick as these sides really play each other alot and the results between the two sides have no trends at all,I favour Colorado in this series mainly because they have a bit more experience in their ranks than the D-Backs and also because they have just beaten a side in the Phillies that are very capable of hitting in runs and the Rockies kept them quiet,while the D-Backs beat the Cubs who never looked likely and the Cubs were lucky to just hold on to get to the post season,but we'll look at Game 1 in this series now.
Arizona after getting past the Cubs will once again start with their Ace Brandon Webb,Webb was back to his dominant best in his last and only post season start against the Cubs in Game 1 of the last series,Webb went 7 innings giving up 4 hits,no walks and 1 run,that was his first post season start,he has faced the Rockies a few times though with these numbers in 2007 his record was 1-3 with an era of 5.77 and career wise his numbers are 8-7 with an era of 3.89...Webbs last start against the Rockies was right here at Chase Field and it was recent only the first week of last month,Webb was tagged with the 3-4 loss.
The Rockies will counter with Jeff Francis,Francis also won his first post season start against the Phillies going 6 innings and giving up 4 hits,2 walks and 2 runs both home runs,he has also faced the D-Backs alot and this season is 1-1 in 3 starts with an era 2.84,career wise Francis is 7-2 with an era of 3.54 against the D-Backs...Francis has won 3 of his last 4 starts in Arizona and has won his last two starts there this season and only surrendered 1 run.Colorado have also won 2 of the last 3 played in Arizona between these two sides.
As we are getting closer to the big show I'll share one of the main reasons I take into account when making my decisions,batting averages against starting pitchers...
No players in the D-Backs have any good numbers against Francis,but the one player who does stand out is Connor Jackson who this season is 3 for 7 in at bats against Francis with 1 homer and a batting average of .471,career wise he is 7-23 with 4 homers against Francis with a batting average of .304,but no other hitters in the D-Backs line up have any numbers worth noting,in fact most of them have never hit him and those who have have very bad numbers of 1-7 and the like.
Now Colorado is a different story altogether with 3 players imparticular having great sucess against Webb and those 3 players are the main reasons as to why the Rockies are going so well..Matsui has a batting average of .471 in 2007 against Webb facing him 17 times for 8 hits,3 of those were doubles and career wise his batting average is .423 and he is 11-26 with 4 doubles....Matt Holiday has a batting average of .316 in 2007 against Webb and is 6-19 thisn season with 1 double and 1 homer...Brad Hawpe is Webbs major threat and is batting at .600 against him and is 9-15 with 2 doubles and 3 homers,Career wise Hawpe is batting at an average of .342 against Webb and has numbers of 13-38 with 2 doubles,1 triple and 4 homers.
Thats not the ful story either,almost all the Rockies have great career and 2007 numbers again the D-Backs set up men and closers,but it's to much to write and I can't be bothered doing it right now.
Anyway,I think that the Rockies will win Game 1 on the back of Francis,so take them to take Game one of this National League Title Series...Good Luck.
Pick : Rockies WIN
Odds : 2.15
Stake : 8 / 10
Bookmaker : Pinnacle
Date : 2007-10-11
I've decide to do this now as I have a busy weekend comming up with the Union World Cup,I'm off to Wellington for the League test in Wellington between the Kiwis and Kangaroos and other personal things,so lets get this one out of the way now.....
This series promises alot with two young sides with two excellent pitching rosters and Bullpens going H2H,actualy this is the best of the two up comming series and the hardest to pick as these sides really play each other alot and the results between the two sides have no trends at all,I favour Colorado in this series mainly because they have a bit more experience in their ranks than the D-Backs and also because they have just beaten a side in the Phillies that are very capable of hitting in runs and the Rockies kept them quiet,while the D-Backs beat the Cubs who never looked likely and the Cubs were lucky to just hold on to get to the post season,but we'll look at Game 1 in this series now.
Arizona after getting past the Cubs will once again start with their Ace Brandon Webb,Webb was back to his dominant best in his last and only post season start against the Cubs in Game 1 of the last series,Webb went 7 innings giving up 4 hits,no walks and 1 run,that was his first post season start,he has faced the Rockies a few times though with these numbers in 2007 his record was 1-3 with an era of 5.77 and career wise his numbers are 8-7 with an era of 3.89...Webbs last start against the Rockies was right here at Chase Field and it was recent only the first week of last month,Webb was tagged with the 3-4 loss.
The Rockies will counter with Jeff Francis,Francis also won his first post season start against the Phillies going 6 innings and giving up 4 hits,2 walks and 2 runs both home runs,he has also faced the D-Backs alot and this season is 1-1 in 3 starts with an era 2.84,career wise Francis is 7-2 with an era of 3.54 against the D-Backs...Francis has won 3 of his last 4 starts in Arizona and has won his last two starts there this season and only surrendered 1 run.Colorado have also won 2 of the last 3 played in Arizona between these two sides.
As we are getting closer to the big show I'll share one of the main reasons I take into account when making my decisions,batting averages against starting pitchers...
No players in the D-Backs have any good numbers against Francis,but the one player who does stand out is Connor Jackson who this season is 3 for 7 in at bats against Francis with 1 homer and a batting average of .471,career wise he is 7-23 with 4 homers against Francis with a batting average of .304,but no other hitters in the D-Backs line up have any numbers worth noting,in fact most of them have never hit him and those who have have very bad numbers of 1-7 and the like.
Now Colorado is a different story altogether with 3 players imparticular having great sucess against Webb and those 3 players are the main reasons as to why the Rockies are going so well..Matsui has a batting average of .471 in 2007 against Webb facing him 17 times for 8 hits,3 of those were doubles and career wise his batting average is .423 and he is 11-26 with 4 doubles....Matt Holiday has a batting average of .316 in 2007 against Webb and is 6-19 thisn season with 1 double and 1 homer...Brad Hawpe is Webbs major threat and is batting at .600 against him and is 9-15 with 2 doubles and 3 homers,Career wise Hawpe is batting at an average of .342 against Webb and has numbers of 13-38 with 2 doubles,1 triple and 4 homers.
Thats not the ful story either,almost all the Rockies have great career and 2007 numbers again the D-Backs set up men and closers,but it's to much to write and I can't be bothered doing it right now.
Anyway,I think that the Rockies will win Game 1 on the back of Francis,so take them to take Game one of this National League Title Series...Good Luck.
Pick : Rockies WIN
Odds : 2.15
Stake : 8 / 10
Bookmaker : Pinnacle
Date : 2007-10-11