Pittsburgh Pirates at Colorado Rockies Betting Preview
The Pittsburgh Pirates were hoping that a visit to Coors Field would be a nice opportunity to pad some stats for their bottom three offense in the majors, but that hasn’t been the case whatsoever following a 13-2 loss on Friday and a 2-0 defeat on Saturday. The Bucs are definitely limping into the All-Star break.
The Colorado Rockies, on the other hand, can head into the break strong, on the heels of what could be a six-game win streak with a victory on Sunday. At 43-49, the Rockies can build some momentum to get back up to .500 in the second half, which is manageable because they are one of the better home teams in baseball.
The Pirates are scrambling to find a starter, so this one looks like Colorado’s for the taking.
Coors Hasn’t Been Kind to Pittsburgh
Perhaps the Pirates’ offense really is that bad. Pittsburgh managed just six hits in Friday’s series-opening 13-2 loss and were blanked in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat. German Marquez pitched into the 7th inning for Colorado on Friday, allowing two ER while he has a 6.63 ERA at home this season.
It’s hard to expect anything productive at the plate for Pittsburgh in Sunday’s series finale. Overall the Pirates have dropped their last four games, and at 12 back from the Pirates in the NL Central, they just seem ready for the upcoming four days off for the All-Star festivities.
Another thing working against Pittsburgh on Sunday is that they have yet to name a starting pitcher. Somebody is going to get thrown into the fire having to take the mound at Coors Field, which isn’t ideal for the #26 ranked pitching staff in the MLB.
Rockies Try to Finish Strong
It’s been a tale of two games for Colorado so far this weekend. They rattled off 17 hits, including HRs by C.J. Cron and Brendan Rodgers, on Friday but scored just two runs on Saturday. The good news is that both games were wins, making it five straight overall for the Rockies.
Kris Bryant has had a good weekend going 5-8, and Charlie Blackmon is 4-9 so far in the MLB series. Combine that type of production with the fact that Pittsburgh will be duct-taping their pitching staff together, and the Rockies have great value on Sunday regardless of what the line is released at.
Austin Gomber (5-7, 6.11 ERA) should get some solid run support on Sunday, which he didn’t need in his last start after allowing just one ER over 6.0 IP in a 5-3 win over the Padres at Coors Field.
Pirates vs. Rockies Pick and Prediction
Oddsmakers are late releasing the price for this game due to the Pittsburgh pitching situation. Regardless of who the Pirates throw out there to start, it’s probably going to be more of a bullpen day which gives Colorado a huge advantage for a run line win.
Pick: Rockies -1.5
