The St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies begin a three game weekend series beginning with Game-1 Friday (8:40 pm ET) at Coors Field. Oddsmakers at most offshore sports shops opened MLB Odds pricing favoring Colorado at -135 with Cardinals backers getting +135 as series underdogs.
Getting the starting call for Colorado Rockies in tonight's opener is right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez currently 0-4 on the year with a 5.44 ERA. Countering for St. Louis is veteran Jake Westbrook, currently 4-3 to go with a 5.17 ERA. With Jimenez and Westbrook the scheduled starters, oddsmakers have lined the Rockies as -157 favorites on the offshore moneyline with a 8 1/2-total. Cardinals backers are getting +142 odds as moneyline underdogs.
Through April and much of May, Cardinals starting pitcher Jake Westbrook's pitching was just bad, there's no other way to describe it. But lately the veteran has caught fire and has become a consistent winner for the NL Central Division leaders. In his previous two starts, Westbrook has delivered when needed the most. Against the Phillies May 16 he pitched six strong innings only surrendering one earned run and against the Royals last weekend threw eight shutout frames against the Royals May 21. With the wins, Westbrook has improved his record to 4-3 to go with a 5.17 ERA. While the ERA is not considered great numbers, it's down from 9.82 in the past month. Over his last six starts, Westbrook has a 2.78 ERA.
Jiminez is looking to return to his ace form and the Rockies are certainly hoping he does quickly. Jiminez is still looking for his first win, currently at 0-4 on the year with a 5.44 ERA. However, his last outing was a good one when he pitched eight frames only giving up two runs on two hits.
MLB Picks: It seems tonight's starting pitchers are finding their own and we could have a heck of a pitching duel. However, I'm going to buck the MLB Odds trend and make a OVER call on the 8 1/2 total. MLB Best Bet – Total OVER 8 1/2.
