The Rockies closed the first half of the season with a four-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves but still sit in last place in the NL West at 39-49 in what’s been a disappointing year.
San Diego has a slim lead over Colorado and this series is a battle for the basement in the division.
ODDS ANALYSIS
Once again the Rockies have a potent offense, ranking in the top five in runs, average and OPS. But the pitching has let them down, sitting at the bottom of the rankings in ERA and WHIP. It’s easy to blame the disparity in numbers on the Coors Field effect, and there’s certainly some validity to that. The Rockies could be turning a corner after allowing three or fewer runs in their last five games while going 4-1. Colorado is 3-7 in its last 10 road games surrendering an average of 5.4 runs and was swept in San Diego in early May giving up 26 runs in three games.
The only thing between the Padres and last place in the NL West is the Rockies. Certainly the San Diego organization didn’t have this in mind when transforming the club’s roster in the offseason and the Pads have to be considered a major disappointment. The club has fallen on hard times offensively scoring just 25 runs during the final 12 games of the first half going 4-8 over that span with the under at 8-2-2. San Diego won five of the first seven games with Colorado this season scoring 52 runs and swept the Rox in Petco Park in May, outscoring them 26-11.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Jorge De La Rosa (6-3, 4.34 ERA) has been Colorado’s most consistent starter all season and looks to continue that right out of the break. He pitched well but got a no-decision Saturday against Atlanta, allowing just two runs over six innings. He’s 6-1 over his last 10 starts and owns a nifty 1.87 ERA over 24 innings in his last four turns.
De La Rosa was tagged for nine hits and seven runs by the Padres in his first start of the year on Apr. 20 and took another loss in San Diego on May 2 allowing three runs over five innings. He struck out a season-high nine in that game and is 8-4 with a 4.90 ERA in 25 career games.
James Shields (7-3, 4.01 ERA) was erratic at Texas on Saturday giving up five hits, four walks, two homers and four runs over 5.1 innings taking a no-decision. He hasn’t won in his past seven starts, going 0-3 with a 4.79 ERA over that span, after starting the year 7-0 with a 3.58 ERA.
Shields allowed three homers and five runs over 5.1 innings but got the home win in an 8-6 victory over the Rockies on Apr. 22. He sports a 6.35 ERA over 11.1 innings in two starts against the Rox this season and is 3-1 with a 4.75 ERA in five career outings against them.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“Right about the time it looks like we’re going to gain some traction, we have a tough road trip or a tough couple series. We’ve got to be able to sustain it. It typically starts on the mound. We’ve had flashes of stretches where we’ve pitched well, but I think we need to be able to sustain that and that will be directly related to winning more games.” – Rockies manager Walt Weiss
LIVE BETTING or SITUATIONAL BETTING
The Rockies started the season with four consecutive wins and reached the All-Star break with a four-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves. Those four-game streaks represent a season-high. In between has been another story. A couple of five-game losing streaks, an 11-game skid and stretches where they lost nine of 10 and seven of eight have doomed the Rockies to a 39-49 last place first-half finish in the NL West. Again pitching has been the Achilles heel for the Rox, whose starters own a 25-36 record and 5.00 ERA, which ranks next to last in the majors, ahead of only the woeful Phillies, and eight different pitchers have started at least five games. The contrast in home and away numbers for the offense is alarming, too. The Rockies rank 13th in the NL with a .236 road batting average and a .667 OPS, compared with their league-leading .305 home average and .805 OPS. Those figures are in line with historic trends for the club.
PROP TALK
In one All-Star Game at-bat Justin Upton matched his hit total from his previous 15 at-bats over San Diego’s last four games. The Padres are hopeful his oblique strain feels better and that his first All-Star Game hit will wake him from his 4 for 41 slumber he’s been in over the last 11 games. His average dropped to .253, the lowest it’s been since the first week of the season and he has just one homer since June 14. Facing Jorge De La Rosa and getting back to Petco Park might help Upton as well. He hits .306 at home this season with 11 of his 14 homers coming in Petco and Upton is hitting .375 (9 for 24) with a double, two RBIs and five walks against De La Rosa in his career.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
I admit I bought into San Diego’s preseason hype and really thought they had done enough on the offensive side to cover up the shortcomings in the middle infield and outfield defense. Boy was I wrong. It’s still hard to imagine this club being so futile on offense over the last few weeks and as bad as the team was in 2014, this version is just one game better through 90 games. There is some good baseball in that group and getting the Rockies at Petco Park will bring it out.
San Diego 5, Colorado 3
The MLB lines for this contest will first be released by BookMaker Sportsbook. Since this game can be seen by anyone with a TV, BookMaker will have a multitude of wagering options available for it. Outside of the normal lines, you can gamble on real-time moneylines, player props and inning totals. Live betting is open during every commercial break!
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here so start betting with BookMaker today! The ballgame pitting the Colorado Rockies versus the San Diego Padres will commence Friday, July 17, 2015, at 10:10 p.m. ET at PETCO Park. The game will be televised live on ROOT Sports and FSSD.
