Colorado will visit Pittsburgh Friday night to begin their portion of the schedule following the All-Star break. They will send Jorge De La Rosa to the mound. De La Rosa has been the only positive in an ugly Rockies starting rotation despite having a record of 10-6 and an ERA at 4.56. Since June 24, De La Rosa has been dominant, going 4-0 with an ERA of 3.76. He will oppose Pirates lefty Francisco Liriano, who is just 1-7 this year with an ERA of 4.72. We are going to back the Rockies in this contest.
The Rockies are just a half-game ahead of the Diamondbacks at the bottom of the NL West standings. Colorado has been relying on De La Rosa the entire season since he has been the one constant in the rotation that has been decimated by injuries. The Rockies will need to have an incredible turnaround in the second-half if they want to make a run at a Wild Card spot, which is very unlikely. The rockies are 12 games out in the Wild Card.
After a shaky start to the season, the Pirates find themselves right back in the middle of the NL Central race in the second-half of the season. The NL Central is the only division in baseball that boasts more than three teams with records over the .500 level. Francisco Liriano will take the mound Friday night for the Pirates with his one win. He has spent time on the disabled list this season outside of his struggles on the mound.
On Friday, when the Pirates host the Rockies, we are going to place our bets at BetOnline.ag. We will drop 10 percent of our bankroll on the struggling Rockies and the hot arm of De La Rosa. Our bet will be on the OVER 7.5 total runs scored at -110 as the Rockies win game one of this series.
