Reeling Rockies return home to battle Bucs

Baseball Betting Lines

07/27/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The suddenly-skidding Colorado Rockies welcome another struggling National League team to Coors Field tonight, when they open a three-game midweek series with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Colorado, which has lost six straight games, enters the set sitting fourth in the NL's West Division - eight games behind the first-place San Diego Padres and 4 1/2 games off the pace of the Wild Card-leading San Francisco Giants.

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, is dead-last in the NL Central, 20 1/2 games behind the division-leading St. Louis Cardinals.

The Rockies, who are 31-16 at home, come in after a four-game sweep at the hands of Philadelphia in a series that ended with a 5-4 defeat on Monday, when Brian Schneider hit a two-run triple and Joe Blanton threw six solid innings for the Phillies.

Jason Hammel (7-6) allowed five runs -- four earned -- in 5 2/3 innings to take the loss for Colorado.

The Pirates come in having dropped four straight, including a 6-3 home loss to San Diego on Sunday, when Chris Denorfia and Adrian Gonzalez each homered for the Padres.

Ronny Cedeno hit a two-run homer for the Pirates, who went 4-6 on a 10-game homestand. Starting pitcher Brad Lincoln (1-4) lasted 6 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits. He also had an RBI.

Colorado sends lefty Jorge De La Rosa to the mound in search of a first win since returning from an extended stay on the disabled list.

The 29-year-old was 3-1 with a 3.91 earned run average through his initial four starts in April, but is 0-1 with a pair of no-decisions in three outings since returning to full-time duty on July 9. He's given up 13 hits and 16 runs in 13 2/3 innings over three starts.

De La Rosa is 3-1 lifetime against the Pirates with a 4.26 ERA in eight appearances, four of which have been starts.

For Pittsburgh, lefty Zach Duke aims for a second straight triumph after ending a five-start losing streak.

The 27-year-old Texan fell from 3-4 to 3-9 over five straight outings between May 28 and July 16, but bounced back in a 15-3 rout of Milwaukee on July 21 in which he gave up six hits and two earned runs in six innings. It was Duke's first win since May 18.

Lifetime against the Rockies, Duke is 3-2 with a 6.90 ERA in five starts. He is 2-4 over six road starts in 2010.

Colorado won six of nine matchups with the Pirates last year and has dominated this series at home over the past two seasons, having gone 9-1 against Pittsburgh at Coors Field since 2008.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.