How to Bet on Rockies at Cubs Match Preview & MLB Betting Tips

It’s a potential playoff preview on Thursday night when the NL West-leading Colorado Rockies make their only visit of the season to face the NL Central-leading Cubs. It’s the opener of a four-game series on Thursday and Chicago will be an MLB odds favorite. The Rockies are currently in a 2 game series against the Cleveland Indians, which ends today. That series is in favor of Colorado. For the Cubs, they’re getting back on track with a winning streak. They end a 3 game series against the Miami Marlins today, which currently stands in their favor at 2-0.

How to Bet on Rockies at Cubs Match Preview & MLB Betting Tips

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— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) June 7, 2017

When: Thursday, June 8, 8:05 PM ET Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago Probable pitchers (away/home): TBA/Jon Lester TV: MLB Extra Innings Stream: MLB.tv Radio: Colorado / Chicago Opening MLB Lines: Cubs favored by TBA

Why Bet On Colorado?

The Rockies could still be without solid utilityman Alexi Amarista for this game after he was placed on the paternity leave list Tuesday. Amarista is excused from the club for 1-3 days. The versatile 28-year-old has posted a surprising .338/.348/.515 batting line in 69 plate appearances this season for Colorado. To fil his roster spot, the team recalled OF Raimel Tapia from Triple-A Albuquerque. He has put up excellent numbers this season at Triple-A, but he doesn’t have a clear path to regular playing time at the major league level. The Rockies took two of three from the visiting Cubs on May 9 & 10. The May 8 game was rained out so they played a doubleheader on May 9. The Rockies won the opener 10-4. Ryan Hanigan hit a two-out, bases-clearing bloop single as part of a six-run third inning, and Mark Reynolds homered and had two RBI singles. Every player in the Rockies’ starting lineup had a hit. Colorado also won 3-0 in the series finale. German Marquez allowed three hits over eight innings and got his first major league hit with a two-run single in the seventh. Marquez had a no-hit bid going until Kris Bryant’s double leading off the seventh. He walked Kyle Schwarber in the first and retired 16 straight before Bryant’s hit to left. Rockies catcher Tony Wolters has been taking on the majority of the starts since May 18. Over that span, Wolters is hitting .252 with a .426 on-base percentage, walking 13 times and only striking out 11. Wolters, who was meant to be the left-handed part of a platoon behind the plate before the other half, Tom Murphy, went down with injury, has seen an uptick in usage with the optioning of Dustin Garneau and with Ryan Hanigan dealing with an ankle injury. As of this writing, it’s not clear who pitches this game. It could be rookie lefty Kyle Freeland (6-3, 3.53). Freeland scattered six hits and two runs over six innings of solid work last Thursday in the Rockies’ win over the Mariners. He fanned three and walked two. Freeland served up a solo blast to Guillermo Heredia in the second inning and later let a run come across on a fourth-inning sac fly, but otherwise held the Mariners in check. The left-hander has been surprisingly reliable for the Rockies as it was Freeland’s seventh quality start in his last eight outings.

Why Bet On Chicago?

The Cubs’ win in the series in Denver was 8-1 in the second game of the doubleheader on May 9. John Lackey struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings and added an RBI single. Lackey became the second visiting pitcher to throw seven or more shutout innings with 10 or more strikeouts at Coors, according to the Rockies. The other was Pedro Martinez on July 29, 1997, when he went nine innings and struck out 13. Chicago gave Lackey plenty of cushion with a five-run second inning. Javier Baez added a two-run homer in the eighth and Bryant a solo shot in the ninth. Freeland had one bad stretch in the loss. He allowed five runs, three earned, and four hits — all in a second inning that was compounded by two errors. The rookie left-hander finished with four walks and six strikeouts over six innings. Chicago is 11-7- 1 in 19 series thus far, but has been swept in four series thus far. The team has swept two series, including a three-game set at home vs. Cincinnati, May 16-18 and this past weekend’s series vs. the Cardinals. The Cubs have recorded a .994 fielding percentage (3 ER/507 TC) since May 22. That’s the second-highest fielding mark in that span, behind only Colorado (.996). Cubs pinch-hitters are batting .322 (28-for- 87) with a .402 OBP this season, both the second-highest average and OBP among any N.L. club (St. Louis, .338 average and .407 OBP from its pinch-hitters). It’s ace Jon Lester (3-3, 3.91) on the mound here. Lester allowed three runs on six hits and three walks while striking out four across six innings, but didn’t factor into the decision Saturday against the Cardinals. Lester allowed a pair of first-inning runs before settling down, and although he left the game with a 3-1 deficit, the offense picked him up after his departure. After getting blasted in his last outing, he got back on track by firing his third quality start over his last four appearances. Lester also picked off a runner from first. Long known for his inability at throwing over to first, it was Lester who caught Tommy Pham testing the fates with a nearly 20-foot lead to notch his first pickoff since 2015. Even if Lester doesn’t throw over to the bag often, runners can’t race around the bases with reckless abandon. Thanks to a quick slide-step and Willson Contreras behind the plate, runners are just 6-for-14 against him when trying to steal this year.

Colorado Rockies at Chicago Cubs MLB Betting Pick: Cubs

Doesn’t matter who starts for the Rockies. Lester has a 2.15 ERA at home this year.