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Baseball Picks: Colorado Rockies at Pittsburgh Pirates

Written May 15, 2009 by Jordan Haimowitz

rockies-pirates-preview-051509 After winning the first game of the series against the Astros 12-1, Colorado dropped the next two games of the series. They are now 13-20 on the season and look awful in every which way. While stats show the Rockies as a team have 45 homers and 164 RBIs, it doesn’t show their lack of clutch hitting. Brad Hawpe is has been hurt which is a killer for this team as he was hitting over .360 with five home runs and 27 RBIs. Todd Helton has a .345 batting average but his power production has been minimal. He has four home runs and 20 RBIs. Chris Iannetta and Ian Stewart have also been key contributors. Going forward the Rockies will need better production from their lead off spot. Pitching wise, the word OUCH comes to mind. Tonight’s starter is Jorge De La Rosa who is 0-3 in his first six starts of the year. He has a decent 3.53 ERA and is coming off his best start of the year. Last season De La Rosa went 10-8 on the year but was 4-6 on the road with a 5.25 ERA. he did pitch well against Pittsburgh in his one start. In order for them to win tonight lead off man Dexter Fowler must get on base. Getting runners in scoring position is crucial for a team who wont provide much slugging. Expect De La Rosa to struggle tonight. Friday’s MLB Odds show the Pirates -116 against the Rockies with the total set for 9 runs.

The Pirates are 14-20 on the season but are coming off winning two of three against St. Louis. This is a young team who started hot and have come back down to earth. Their young left fielder Nyjer Morgan continues to roll though, he is hitting .303 with 17 RBIs and nine stolen bases. Nate McLouth is the teams best player hitting .279 with five homers and 23 RBIs. Adam LaRoche leads the team with six homers, scary I know, the whole team only has 22 combined. This is a very weak hitting team overall, they must make up for that with solid pitching. Tonight’s starter is ace Paul Maholm. While he has struggled of late, his numbers this year are solid. He is 3-1 in seven starts with a 4.06 ERA. Maholm dominates at home. last year he went 9-9 overall. seven of those wins were bat home. McLouth has not had a big time game from the plate yet this year. Expect one tonight. Morgan should be solid as well. This match up sits perfectly for a Pittsburgh route. It will be up to them to execute properly. At home, the Pirates are legit. One the road, well, we don’t need to worry about because they are not. Picks Below.

Haimo’s Hot Notes: The Rockies are 2-8 in their last 10 games as an underdog. Colorado is 3-8 in their last 11 road games. Pittsburgh has went 3-12 in their last 15 games overall. The Pirates are also 7-17 in their last 24 Friday games. While all these trends are ugly, the stat above is the one that excites me. Maholm was 7-2 last year at home. The Pirates will roll here as we have a declared BEST BET of the night. Go BIG on this one.

Betting Line: Colorado Rockies +106/Pittsburgh -116

Jordans Pick: Pittsburgh -116 (BEST BET)

A little slip up last night as the Giants fell to the Mets. After coming back to get even at 4-4 San Frans closer Brian Wilson got lit up and cost us a chance at a win. It happens, not the end of the world. The documented record is below. Lets get back to work..

Documented MLB Record:

51-26 OVERALL

19-10 BEST BETS

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