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The Arizona Diamondbacks have been one of the biggest disappointments in the National League this season and the Colorado Rockies one of the top surprises. They meet for Game 2 of a series in Denver on Tuesday with the Rockies favored on the MLB odds.

How to Bet Diamondbacks at Rockies MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 8:40 PM ET
Where: Coors Field
Probable pitchers (away/home): Zac Gallen/Kyle Freeland
TV: MLB Extra Innings
Stream/gameday audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/
Opening MLB Lines: Rockies -112, Diamondbacks +102 (total 11.5)

Why Bet on Arizona?

The D-backs were 9-10 vs. Rockies in 2019, including winning 7 of the last 9 meetings. Arizona was 4-6 @ Coors Field last season. Starling Marte’s .427 average @ Coors Field is best among all active players (min. 90 PA).

Arizona is averaging 3.99 pitches per plate appearance this season, up from 3.86 in 2019 and 3.89 in 2018. Kole Calhoun leads the club by averaging 4.30 P/PA, followed by David Peralta with 4.19.

It’s Zac Gallen on the hill for Arizona. Gallen (0-0, 2.81) held the Astros to two runs over six innings in a no-decision Thursday. Gallen gave up six hits, including a Jose Altuve solo home run, while walking one and striking out six over his six innings of work. It appeared that he’d be in for a tough loss despite pitching well, but the Diamondbacks offense came to life in the bottom of the sixth inning to keep the 25-year-old without a decision on the 2020 season. Gallen walked five batters in his first start. In his two subsequent starts, the right-hander has only issued two free passes.

In 18 career starts, Gallen has yet to give up three earned runs. In three games this season, the righty has pitched 16 innings, allowing 13 hits and five runs while striking out 21. The former Tar Heel has bounced around the MLB after being selected in the third round by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2016. Since leaving Chapel Hill after his junior season, Gallen has played for three teams, including the Cardinals, Miami Marlins, and now the Diamondbacks.

“We like his ability to throw strikes,” Arizona GM Mike Hazen said. “We like his ability to pitch. We like his ability to strategize. He’s got good secondary stuff. We think he’s durable. He does a lot of things that we like in a starting pitcher.”

Why Bet on Colorado?

Star Nolan Arenado is 0-for-14 following three consecutive games in which he homered, Aug. 3-5. The three home runs are his only extra-base hits on the season. His home run Aug. 3 was the 228th of his career, which passed Carlos González for fourth in franchise history. He passed Troy Tulowitzki for seventh-most hits in franchise history (1,166) on July 31.

Arenado was given Sunday off to get his head right. In a typical season, sitting out a player who is hitless in his last 14 at-bats and is hitting .185 on the year would be a good idea, but this is not a typical season. With the season shortened to 60 games, every game counts even more. Manager Bud Black had been using the new universal DH to give certain players days off in the field, so why not do the same with Arenado?

As of Monday, Charlie Blackmon is on a 13-game hitting streak after starting the season 0-for-9. During that streak, Blackmon is hitting 27-for-50 (.540) with 3 home runs, 18 RBI, and 12 runs scored. His slash line is up to .458/.492/.695 with 18 RBI and 13 runs scored. He is currently leading all of baseball in batting average.

Daniel Murphy entered Sunday — an off day, aside from a late-game pinch-hit appearance in which he struck out — hitting .372/.413/.628 in 47 trips to the plate. Murphy astoundingly has made soft contact with just 3.1 percent of the balls he’s put into play. In contrast to Murphy, 25.5 percent of the balls put in play by Arenado classify as softly hit, a mark that is pretty easily a career high.

Lefty Kyle Freeland (2-0, 2.41) gets the ball for the Rockies. Freeland did not factor into the decision on Thursday against the Giants while allowing three runs over 6 2/3 innings. Freeland pitched six scoreless innings despite allowing at least one runner to reach base in five of those frames. However, he ran into trouble when he was put back on the mound in the seventh inning, as he allowed three consecutive hits with two outs — the final one being a three-run home run by Mauricio Dubon.

Freeland has worked on his delivery and he’s throwing more changeups in 2020. A lot more.

“It’s a great pitch to get hitters off my fastball,” said Freeland. “Throughout the start of my career, I favored fastball and slider, two pitches with a little bit of movement. With this changeup coming out of my hand, hitters see it as a fastball. … I think it’s very important to keep hitters off balance with throwing a pitch that looks like a certain pitch.”

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