Friday night baseball and we will see the Pittsburgh Pirates take on the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Colorado. First pitch is scheduled for an 8:40 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally.
Current Odds
Pittsburgh -137
Colorado +127
Over/ Under: 8.5 O -115
Analysis: The Pittsburgh Pirates are at 70 wins on the year and that is the fastest that they have done that since 1972. The Pirates have the most home wins, but tonight they will start a 6 game road trip as they look to build on their 5 game win streak. The Pirates scratched Andrew McCutchen on Thursday, but he should be back in this game. He did have a pinch hit single yesterday and is now 11 for 17 in his last 6 games. Taking the hill for the Pirates is Francisco Liriano and he has been awesome this year and is probably looking at being MLB's Comeback Player of the Year. Liriano is 12-4 on the year with a 2.02 ERA overall. He has won his last 3 starts and has an ERA of 0.42 over that stretch. Liriano, has limited left-handed hitters to a .117 average in 2013, and is 1-1 in two career outings against Colorado with a 1.93 ERA.
The Rockies have now dropped 9 of their last 10 games and that stretch includes losing 2 of 3 in Pittsburgh earlier in the month. The Rockies have put up a mere 12 runs in their last 8 games and now they are without their top player, Carlos Gonzalez, who is out with a finger injury. In their last 5 games they are 0-5 and have scored just 6 runs, while hitting .205 with 34 strikeouts. That is not how the Rockies play offense normally. Jorge De La Rosa takes the hill for Colorado and he has been very solid at home this year. De La Rosa is 6-1 with a 2.65 ERA in 10 home starts, while he is 25-5 in his last 38 starts at Coors Field overall. De La Rosa is 3-3 in 12 appearances (eight starts) with a 4.24 ERA versus Pittsburgh. Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton and Dexter Fowler did not start in Thursday's day game and all figure to be back in the lineup tonight.
Pick: Teams coming home off a long road are in a tough spot in that first game and that has me looking at the Pirates in this one. The Rockies just haven't been able to score lately and it doesn't help that they will be facing the hottest pitcher in baseball in Francisco Liriano, who comes in with an 0.42 ERA in his last 3 starts and he has a career 1.93 ERA vs the Rockies. Pittsburgh is hot as they have won 5 in a row and they have their best starter vs a Rockies team in a bad spot, so I will look for the Pirates to push their win streak to 6 games.
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MLB Free Picks: Pittsburgh Pirates at Colorado Rockies Betting
What baseball bettors need to know about Pittsburgh Pirates at Colorado Rockies on Friday (8/09/13) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Marco D'Angelo with Ken Thomson.