Colorado has been a tough out on the home diamond at Coors Field this season and will be big MLB money line favorites to continue that trend today against the Reds.
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While the San Diego Padres continue a meltdown of epic proportions, the Rockies have climbed back into the National League West Division race. Colorado looks to continue its playoff push against the top team from the NL Central Division in the opener of a four-game series with the Cincinnati Reds.
Ubaldo Jimenez, winless in his last five starts, gets the call for the Rockies while the surprising Reds, who are cruising towards their first division title in 15 years, will go with Aaron Harang. The early MLB betting trends favor the Rockies with 5Dimes among others seeing plenty of action coming in on Jimenez.
San Diego suffered its 10th-straight loss Sunday, dropping a 4-3 verdict to Colorado to give the Rockies a three-game sweep and their 11th win in 15 games against the Friars this season. It was also Colorado’s first road sweep in over a year and couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Padres, who have led the division virtually the entire season, haven’t won since Aug. 25. Their collapse has already reached historic proportions and opened the door just a smidge for the Rockies (72-64) who trail San Diego by 4 ½ games in the West. Colorado is 5 ½ games behind Philadelphia in the NL Wild Card race. Granted it’s a long shot, but at least Jim Tracy’s club is still breathing.
In Sunday’s 4-3 win, Colorado got another huge game from Carlos Gonzalez. The 24-year-old superstar in waiting went 3-for-5 to extend his hitting skein to 13 games, with nine of those multi-hit games. Gonzalez (.334) leads the NL batting race by 14 points and is 27-for-51 with six homers and 16 RBIs during a 13-game hitting streak. He has hit.536 over that stretch.
CarGo, who has hit 31 home runs and driven in 95 runs, has hit in all but six road games since the All-Star break. As long as he’s got a bat in his hands, the Rockies still have a chance.
Jimenez (17-6, 2.69) will be trying once again to become the first 18-game winner in the National League. The 26-year old right-hander hasn’t won since August 4, going 0-4 despite a 3.00 ERA over his last five starts. Run support has been the major issue, with Colorado giving him one or no runs in four of those outings.
He’s been brilliant at home going 8-1 with the Rockies posting a 10-2 mark in his 12 outings at Coors Field. This will be his fifth career appearance against the Reds as he looks to improve on a 2-0 record and a 2.42 ERA.
Harang (6-7, 4.92) will go for the visitors and will be making his second start after a two-month stint on the disabled list due to back problems. He’s a solid 4-2 with an ERA of 3.00 in six career outings Team Purple.
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Cincinnati (79-57) has opened up a seven-game lead over second-place St. Louis in the NL Central Division as the Reds close in on their first winning season since 2000, and first playoff appearance since 1995. The turning point in their season came August 11 when they were swept by Cardinals and left St. Louis in tatters. Since then, the Reds have gone 15-6 while St. Louis is 7-14.
Joey Votto has led the charge hitting .321 with 32 home runs and 98 RBIs, and is definitely the front-man for a team that is rocking any and all comers. Cincinnati is second in the majors in scoring (4.99), fourth in batting (.272) and is sixth in home runs with 157. If the Reds can hang on over the final 26 regular season games, there’s a chance they could take most of the non-pitching postseason awards. Votto will get his share of MVP votes while Scott Rolen (19 HR, 78 RBI) is the front-runner for the Comeback Player of the Year award.
The real winner is Dusty Baker who, as fate would have it, is in the final year of a three-year contract. He’ll not only win the Manager of the Year award this season but will be in line for one hellacious raise.
Jimenez and the Rockies opened as -190 baseball odds favorites at Bodog with the total at 8½. The Reds are 15-6 in their last 21 games but are on a puzzling 5-17 stretch at Coors Field, including six straight losses. Colorado continues to feast on home cooking going 43-22 including, a blistering 12-4 run. Cincinnati continues to be profitable play on the run line going 77-59 for +19.95 units.
The weather forecast is calling for a pleasant afternoon at the ballpark with the game time temperature expected to be in the low 70’s. First pitch is at 3:10 p.m. ET.
The Reds began the season with odds of 100/1 to win the World Series, baseball odds that have now dropped to 15/1. Cincinnati still has its share of skeptics with Atlanta, Philadelphia, St. Louis and even San Francisco getting better odds in the senior circuit. Rodney Dangerfield made a career out of getting ‘no respect.’ The Redlegs are on a mission for the same reason.