Time For A Charge
If the Colorado Rockies hope to make another late-season charge up the
NL West standings, their dismal record on the road will likely have to
improve.
Based on their performance on their current trip, there’s at least some reason to believe it might.
The
Rockies will look to win a season-high sixth game on a single trip when
they continue their four-game series with the Florida Marlins on
Saturday.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global
have made Florida -150 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has
been set at 9.5 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 83% of bets for this game have been placed on Florida -150 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Colorado had lost 25 of its last 31 road games before
the All-Star break, but began its second-half road slate with a
three-game sweep of Cincinnati last weekend.
After a 5-2 win over
Florida on Friday, the Rockies (50-61) are 5-3 on the trip with two
games remaining, aiming at their first winning trip of more than three
games since they went 5-4 against Arizona, San Diego and Houston from
April 11-20. Their 39 road losses this season lead all of baseball.
Last
season, they were 28-39 on the road before winning 11 of their last 14
away from Coors Field en route to the NL wild card and a trip to the
World Series.
They’ve dug an even bigger hole this year, but
their offense has shown signs of another surge. Colorado led the majors
with 163 runs in July, and its bats didn’t slow down Friday. Each
position player had at least one hit, led by Brad Hawpe’s 3-for-5,
two-RBI performance.
The Marlins (58-52), meanwhile, looked like
they could have used some help offensively one day after they failed to
trade for Manny Ramirez. Florida mustered only four hits, including two
in seven scoreless innings against Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez.
Philadelphia
and the New York Mets also lost Friday, meaning the Marlins remained 1
1/2 games behind the Phillies and a half-game behind the Mets in the NL
East.
Florida was swept at home by Tampa Bay from June 24-26, but
hasn’t dropped back-to-back games to NL opponents in South Florida
since it lost three in a row to the Los Angeles Dodgers from April
29-May 1.
Ricky Nolasco (10-6, 3.94 ERA) will try to prevent that
while looking for his first victory since before the All-Star break
when he faces the Rockies for the first time in more than two years.
After
going 9-1 with a 2.84 ERA in his last 13 starts before the break, the
right-hander is 0-2 with a 5.50 ERA in his last three outings. He
didn’t receive a decision Monday against the Mets after giving up two
runs in six innings of Florida’s 7-3 win.
In his last outing against Colorado, Nolasco pitched eight innings in a 13-0 win at Coors Field on June 3, 2006.
Rockies
hurler Valerio De Los Santos (0-0, 4.50) hadn’t pitched in the majors
since 2005 – when he made 27 appearances for Florida – and hadn’t
started since 2000 before Monday. The 35-year-old left-hander gave up
only two hits in four-plus innings at Pittsburgh, but walked six and
allowed two runs in Colorado’s 8-4 loss.
Did
you like this article? Subscribe to our Baseball news feed for the fastest
updates delivered right to you – Click here to
Subscribe
