Stalled Charge
Two weeks ago, the Colorado Rockies appeared poised to make another remarkable run to the postseason. That charge has since stalled.
The defending NL champion Rockies look to bounce back from a tough loss and avoid dropping three straight games for the first time in a month when they open a three-game series against the slumping Atlanta Braves.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Atlanta -120 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 9 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 13% of bets for this game have been placed on Atlanta -120 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Colorado (67-77) won nine of 11 games from Aug. 15-26 to pull within six games of first place in the NL West, but it has been unable to make up any ground since.
The Rockies lost to Houston 7-5 on Sunday, having blown a 5-4 lead in the eighth inning.
"These are the games that sting," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "They sting this time of the year."
The Rockies have hit .206 in their last 10 games, losing six of them. They have not dropped three in a row since Aug. 9-12.
All-Star Matt Holliday has been in the middle of the slide, as he’s 3-for-30 with three RBIs in his last eight games. He’s had little trouble against the Braves, though, batting .387 (24-for-62) with seven homers, seven doubles and 21 RBIs in his last 14 games against them.
The Rockies won three of four over the Braves (62-82) at Coors Field this season, but have really struggled in Atlanta lately, losing 12 of their last 15 there.
Aaron Cook (16-9, 4.10 ERA) also has had problems at Turner Field and he’ll look to bounce back from one of his worst starts of the season when he takes the ball Tuesday.
Cook was tagged for six runs and 10 hits in a season-low three innings of a 9-2 loss to San Francisco on Wednesday. It was his shortest outing since going two innings on Aug. 7, 2004. The sinkerballer has been battling a tight lower back in recent weeks, and has gone less than six innings in five of his last six outings.
Cook has a 3.12 ERA in winning his four road starts since the All-Star break, but the right-hander is 0-1 with a 5.56 ERA in four career starts in Atlanta and he has never beaten the Braves. In his only start against them this season on April 7 at Coors, Cook gave up one run and two hits in seven innings of Colorado’s 2-1 victory.
Atlanta is coming off a 7-4, 14-inning loss to Washington on Sunday.
The Braves have lost seven of 10 to fall 20 games under .500 for the third time this year. They have not been 21 games under the break-even mark since ending the 1990 season 65-97.
"This year has been bad, and we’ve had so many things go wrong," Braves catcher Brian McCann told the team’s official Web site. "But we still want to play the role of spoiler."
McCann is 4-for-23 (.174) with two RBIs in seven games this month after going 6-for-11 (.545) with two homers and five RBIs in his previous four.
Atlanta’s Jorge Campillo (7-7, 3.67) again tries to get out of his funk when he takes the hill Tuesday in his first career start against the Rockies.
Campillo is 1-3 with a 7.39 ERA in his last six starts after going 3-0 with a 1.26 ERA in his previous five. On Wednesday, the right-hander allowed three runs and four hits and needed 102 pitches to go five innings in a 5-3 loss to Florida, but did not factor in the decision.
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