Both the Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies won one-game tiebreakers/wild-card games this week at the Chicago Cubs. That gave the Brewers the NL Central title and the top seed in the National League playoffs and the Rockies the wild card spot and a trip to Milwaukee for Game 1 of the NLDS on Thursday. The odds are TBA as of this writing, but the Brewers will be MLB odds favorites.
Josh Hader tossed two scoreless innings to close out Monday’s game. He finished the regular season with a 2.43 ERA and a crazy 143/30 K/BB ratio over 81 1/3 innings. He also notched 12 saves. It was Milwaukee’s eighth straight win overall, tying a season high.
It was thought that Milwaukee would start lefty Wade Miley here, but manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday that Game 1 of the National League Division Series will be a bullpen day, but that he hasn’t decided which of his relievers will open against the Rockies. The Brewers don’t have an ace, but do have a deep and high-powered reliefs corps. Piecing together four or five innings from their middle-relief unit before turning things over to Corey Knebel, Hader and Jeremy Jeffress might well be their best play.
The Brewers went 51-30 at home this year, going 16-7-3 in series play. Their .630 home winning percentage tied Chicago for best in the National League.
How to Bet Rockies at Brewers NLDS Game 1 Odds & Expert Prediction
- When: Thursday, 5:07 PM ET
- Where: Miller Park, Milwaukee
- Probable pitchers (away/home): Antonio Senzatela/Bullpen day
- TV: Fox Sports 1
- Live Stream: Fox Sports Go
- Radio: TuneIn
- NLDS Game 1 Odds: TBA
Braves at Dodgers NLDS Game 1 Lines & Game Preview
Weather Forecast
- Clear: 12°C/54°F
- Humidity: 58%
- Precipitation: 1%
- Cloud Cover: 3%
- Wind: 12 mph NE
- Stadium Type: Retractable
Season Series
The Brewers won both regular season series against the Rockies. Milwaukee three of four at Coors Field in May capped by Freddy Peralta’s 13-strikeout debut, then two of three at Miller Park beginning with Eric Thames’ walk-off homer against Rockies closer Wade Davis.Why Bet on Colorado?
The Rockies won an epic 2-1, 13-inning wild-card game at Wrigley on Tuesday despite playing their third game in three days in three different time zones. Tony Wolters hit a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the 13th inning. Wolters entered as part of a double-switch in the bottom of the 12th inning and played the hero one frame later, following a pair of two-out hits from Trevor Story and Gerardo Parra with a shot up the middle. Wolters batted just .170 during the regular season, ranking 374th among the 379 major league hitters with at least 150 at-bats. He was the third catcher of the night for Colorado. Scott Oberg struck out all four batters he faced to close out the win. Oberg got Kris Bryant looking to finish off the bottom of the 12th inning and then whiffed Terrance Gore, Javier Baez, and Albert Almora in the bottom of the 13th. A total of 15 players on the Rockies’ playoff roster have appeared in postseason play in their career: Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, DJ LeMahieu, Scott Oberg, Chris Rusin, Story and Pat Valaika all made their postseason debuts with Colorado in the 2017 Wild Card Game, which the Rockies lost to Arizona. Colorado went 44-38 on the road this season, their most road wins in franchise history (previous: 41 in 2017 and 2009). Blackmon ranks eighth in the NL in road runs (49), Story is tied for seventh with 19 road doubles, Ian Desmond ranks tied for fourth with four road triples and tied for eighth with 49 road RBI, while Arenado ranks 10th with 48 road RBI and first with 57 multi-hit games on the road. It’s Antonio Senzatela on the mound. Senzatela (6-6, 4.38) held the Phillies to one run in 4 2/3 innings in his start last Thursday. Senzatela started the season in the bullpen before moving into the rotation at the start of July. He had a 3.95 ERA as a starter despite striking out just 55 batters in 73 innings and walking 24. He’s seen even better results in September, allowing just 1 earned run in each of his past three starts, including limiting the Diamondbacks to just 3 hits over 7 innings on September 22. Like most Colorado pitchers, Senzatela’s overall numbers are inflated a bit by pitching so frequently at Coors Field. Away from home, he’s limited opponents to a .220/.287/.341 overall line. Senzatela has only made one start against the Brewers in his career, in his MLB debut on April 6, 2017. Senzatela held the Brewers scoreless for 5 innings, allowing only 2 hits and striking out 6.Why Bet on Milwaukee?
The Brewers won the West with Monday’s 3-1 victory at the Cubs. Christian Yelich, the likely NL MVP, went 3-for-4 with an RBI single. Yelich was 1-for-11 against Cubs starter Jose Quintana coming into Monday’s action but got three singles off him. While Yelich entered the day with a chance at the NL’s first Triple Crown since 1937, he won the NL batting title at .326 while finishing second in homers (36) and second in RBI (110). Yelich is the first batting champion in franchise history. Prior to 2018, the closest a Brewer ever came to a batting title was Robin Yount (.331), who finished behind the Royals’ Willie Wilson (.332) in 1982. Yelich led all NL hitters with a .352/.500/.807 slash line with 10 homers over 26 games in September to win the league’s Player of the Month honor. Orlando Arcia went 4-for-4 with two runs scored in Monday’s NL tiebreaker game. He picked a good time for his first career four-hit game. Arcia jumpstarted rallies in the third and sixth innings. Shocking it was him as Arcia was one of the league’s worst hitters this year. His .576 OPS is the lowest among National League hitters with at least 350 plate appearances.
Josh Hader tossed two scoreless innings to close out Monday’s game. He finished the regular season with a 2.43 ERA and a crazy 143/30 K/BB ratio over 81 1/3 innings. He also notched 12 saves. It was Milwaukee’s eighth straight win overall, tying a season high.
It was thought that Milwaukee would start lefty Wade Miley here, but manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday that Game 1 of the National League Division Series will be a bullpen day, but that he hasn’t decided which of his relievers will open against the Rockies. The Brewers don’t have an ace, but do have a deep and high-powered reliefs corps. Piecing together four or five innings from their middle-relief unit before turning things over to Corey Knebel, Hader and Jeremy Jeffress might well be their best play.
The Brewers went 51-30 at home this year, going 16-7-3 in series play. Their .630 home winning percentage tied Chicago for best in the National League.
Rockies at Brewers NLDS Game 1 Betting Trends
- Under is 9-3 in the last 12 meetings
- Rockies are 2-7 in the last 9 meetings
- Brewers are 20-6 in their last 26 overall
- Colorado is 10-2 ATS in its last 12 games
- Colorado is 10-2 SU in its last 12 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 12 of Colorado’s last 16 games on the road
- Milwaukee is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games when playing Colorado
- Milwaukee is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
- The total has gone OVER in 6 of Milwaukee’s last 8 games
