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Colorado Rockies vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Preview: Rockies are being undervalued on the road
The Colorado Rockies had a rough homestand against the Giants and the Mets, going 2-4 against those two ball clubs. Tonight, the Rockies travel to Pennsylvania to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates in a three-game stint. Although the Rockies haven't played their best baseball lately, the Pirates have done just as poorly. The Rockies have been placed as underdogs in this matchup and that's a great value spot against a Pirates team that sits at 16-24.
Below, you will find a brief preview of each team followed by a prediction for the game.
Colorado Rockies Preview:
"Big Win over the boys from the Big Apple" - @ Rockies
Colorado will send Chad Kuhl to the mound as he has struggled in his last two starts. However, his 3.86 ERA and 1.18 WHIP (walks/hits per inning pitched) are still respectable numbers. Kuhl has had success against offenses that rank toward the bottom of the league, and that's exactly where the Pirates sit.
The pitching hasn't been the strong suit for the Rockies, as their staff ranks 27th in the MLB in ERA. The strongest part of this team has been the MLB's #1 ranked offense. The Rockies are ranked in the top five in most of the important offensive categories. Led by C.J. Cron, Charlie Blackmon, and Kris Bryant, the Rockies will look to take advantage of an inferior Pittsburgh team tonight.
Pittsburgh Pirates Preview:
"FINAL." - @ Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates didn't have high expectations this season. Both the hitting and pitching have been far too inconsistent for success. The Pittsburgh Pirates offense ranks 25th in the MLB in batting average and the pitching staff ranks 29th in team ERA. That is not a formula that will lead to success. J.T. Brubaker will start the game for Pittsburgh, and he has had a season to forget this far. Brubaker is 0-4, with an ERA of 5.50. In eight starts, Brubaker has given up multiple runs in all but one of them and has yet to face an offense with the production and efficiency of Colorado.
The key to victory for Pittsburgh is to get a quality start out of J.T. Brubaker and find a way to get into the Colorado bullpen early. Colorado's bullpen has the worst ERA in the league, so that is an advantage that the Pirates can exploit.
Pick/Prediction: Colorado Rockies ML (+105)
Not too sure why this team is underdogs against the Pirates. Although Colorado has struggled as of late, they have played two pretty good teams in their last two series. Pittsburgh is rarely favored in games, and they are hard to trust when they are. Their 2-4 record this season as favorites isn't something that you can confidently bet on. We're going with the better team and getting them at plus money, let's go Rockies!
