Rockies Ready to Roll at Diamondbacks
Colorado is hotter than a two-dollar pistol and ready to continue the run as 145 MLB odds favorites Tuesday night in Phoenix against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
All 30 baseball teams could use a day off right now. But when a team is playing as well as the Colorado Rockies, there's always the notion that a day off could interrupt the momentum. The question will be answered Tuesday night in Phoenix when the Rockies start a three-game set with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
TheGreek.com started its bidding at Colorado minus 145. The 9½-run total at Bookmaker.com favored the 'under' a tad in the duel between southpaws. Jim Tracy will send Jorge De La Rosa to the hill for the Rockies with Arizona going with Joe Saunders. It's a pitching rematch of a Sept. 10 meeting in Denver.
Pitching isn't really the first thing you think of with Colorado, unless Ubaldo Jimenez is on the slate. The way Troy Tulowitzki and his gang have been going lately, it's understandable that the Rockies offense comes to mind first. Sort of hidden in Colorado's surge has been the lucky charm De La Rosa (11-6, 4.25) has become.
De La Rosa's last five starts have all been Colorado wins at the MLB odds window. He went to the mound on Aug. 24 versus Atlanta with the club at 64-60 and 10 ½-games back in the NL West. The Rockies are still third in the division, but now 1½-games out with 18 wins to seven defeats since Aug. 24. De La Rosa's ERA in that span is 3.24.
One of the wins was the matchup between De La Rosa and Saunders 11 days ago at Coors Field. Colorado skated to a 13-4 win with Saunders not making it out of the third and allowing seven runs (4 ER) while De La Rosa tossed six, allowed two runs and struck out 10. The Rockies were 190 favorites at home.
Saunders (2-8, 4.88), for the record, also faced the Rockies in June while still a member of the Angels organization. He picked up what turned out to be the final win of his Halos career with seven innings of two-run ball.
That 13-4 win started a three-game sweep for the Rockies to give them a 9-6 edge in the season series. However, Colorado is 2-4 in the games at Chase Field. The 'under' is also 5-1 in Phoenix.
The Diamondbacks are on a 3-12 run with the Rockies running something akin to the opposite. I'm not ballsy enough to bet against streaks like that ending. There's no reason to back Saunders who now has a higher NL ERA than the one he had in the AL (4.62). Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez have been hitting good pitchers the past couple of weeks. And the bullpen has been getting it done should De La Rosa falter. Matt Belisle and Rafael Betancourt have been unsung setting up Huston Street.
It's going to be 103ºF during the day in Phoenix with a good chance of thunderstorms in the evening. The top at Chase Field will be closed.
Wednesday's second game of the series will match up Jimenez (22-8, 2.84) for the Rockies against Arizona's Rodrigo Lopez (10-20, 4.98). The series finale on Thursday has Jeff Francis (9-8, 4.61) facing Ian Kennedy (14-16, 3.79). All three games are 9:40 p.m. ET starts.
NOTE: W-L records displayed for starting pitchers are team records in games the pitchers start.
Colorado is hotter than a two-dollar pistol and ready to continue the run as 145 MLB odds favorites Tuesday night in Phoenix against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
All 30 baseball teams could use a day off right now. But when a team is playing as well as the Colorado Rockies, there's always the notion that a day off could interrupt the momentum. The question will be answered Tuesday night in Phoenix when the Rockies start a three-game set with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
TheGreek.com started its bidding at Colorado minus 145. The 9½-run total at Bookmaker.com favored the 'under' a tad in the duel between southpaws. Jim Tracy will send Jorge De La Rosa to the hill for the Rockies with Arizona going with Joe Saunders. It's a pitching rematch of a Sept. 10 meeting in Denver.
Pitching isn't really the first thing you think of with Colorado, unless Ubaldo Jimenez is on the slate. The way Troy Tulowitzki and his gang have been going lately, it's understandable that the Rockies offense comes to mind first. Sort of hidden in Colorado's surge has been the lucky charm De La Rosa (11-6, 4.25) has become.
De La Rosa's last five starts have all been Colorado wins at the MLB odds window. He went to the mound on Aug. 24 versus Atlanta with the club at 64-60 and 10 ½-games back in the NL West. The Rockies are still third in the division, but now 1½-games out with 18 wins to seven defeats since Aug. 24. De La Rosa's ERA in that span is 3.24.
One of the wins was the matchup between De La Rosa and Saunders 11 days ago at Coors Field. Colorado skated to a 13-4 win with Saunders not making it out of the third and allowing seven runs (4 ER) while De La Rosa tossed six, allowed two runs and struck out 10. The Rockies were 190 favorites at home.
Saunders (2-8, 4.88), for the record, also faced the Rockies in June while still a member of the Angels organization. He picked up what turned out to be the final win of his Halos career with seven innings of two-run ball.
That 13-4 win started a three-game sweep for the Rockies to give them a 9-6 edge in the season series. However, Colorado is 2-4 in the games at Chase Field. The 'under' is also 5-1 in Phoenix.
The Diamondbacks are on a 3-12 run with the Rockies running something akin to the opposite. I'm not ballsy enough to bet against streaks like that ending. There's no reason to back Saunders who now has a higher NL ERA than the one he had in the AL (4.62). Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez have been hitting good pitchers the past couple of weeks. And the bullpen has been getting it done should De La Rosa falter. Matt Belisle and Rafael Betancourt have been unsung setting up Huston Street.
It's going to be 103ºF during the day in Phoenix with a good chance of thunderstorms in the evening. The top at Chase Field will be closed.
Wednesday's second game of the series will match up Jimenez (22-8, 2.84) for the Rockies against Arizona's Rodrigo Lopez (10-20, 4.98). The series finale on Thursday has Jeff Francis (9-8, 4.61) facing Ian Kennedy (14-16, 3.79). All three games are 9:40 p.m. ET starts.
NOTE: W-L records displayed for starting pitchers are team records in games the pitchers start.
