<p>
<b>Colorado Rockies (58-69) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (67-58) </b>
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<p>
The Cardinals are tracking positively toward the playoffs, while the Rockies are playing out the string on this season, heading into the opener of this four-game weekend series in St. Louis Thursday night. Who do we like here for our free MLB pick?
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<h2>
MLB Betting Odds<br />
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<p>
Thursday's MLB betting odds opened St. Louis at around -140 over Colorado, with an over/under of 8.5 runs. Those figures were holding steady in early betting action.
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</div>
<h2>
Rockies vs. Cardinals Set-Up<br />
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<p>
Colorado just dropped two of three games at Arizona, avoiding the sweep with a 7-2 victory Wednesday. Just before that the Rockies swept three games from Miami, and just before that they took the last match of another series against the Diamondbacks. So Colorado is 5-2 over its last seven games.
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<p>
However, at 58-69 overall the Rockies are ten games and seven teams from the nearest National League playoff spot, with time running out.
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<p>
Meanwhile, St. Louis just took two of three games at home from Milwaukee, missing out on the sweep by losing Wednesday 5-3 in a rain-shortened 7 ½ innings. Just before that the Cardinals split four games at Cincinnati; just before that they swept two games at Kansas City; and just before that they swept three games from Pittsburgh. So St. Louis is 9-3 over its last 12 games.
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<p>
At 67-58 overall the Cardinals trail the first-place Cubs by a half-game in the NL Central, but they also lead the Phillies and Mets by a game and a half in the battle for the second National League wild-card spot.
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<p>
This series is the first meeting between these teams this season. Last year the Cardinals took the season series from the Rockies five games to two.
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<h2>
Thursday's Starting Arms<br />
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<p>
<a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/40285&quot; title="Miles Mikolas Pitching Logs">Mikolas</a>, by our strict measures, is 10/25 on quality starts this season and 0 for his last two. Last Saturday he gave up five runs and seven hits, including two home runs, through five innings of a 6-1 St. Louis loss to the Reds. And just before that, he gave up five runs and seven hits, including a couple of dingers, in five innings against the Pirates.
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<p>
On the season the Cardinals are only 12-13 with Mikolas, 1-3 over his last four starts.
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<p>
In two starts last year against Colorado Mikolas allowed seven runs – five earned – and 19 hits over 11 2/3 innings. St. Louis managed to win both those games.
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<p>
<a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/81750&quot; title="Miles Marquez Pitching Logs">Marquez </a>is 11/27 on quality starts this year, and four for his last six. Last Saturday he held the Marlins to two runs and five hits through five innings of an 11-4 Rockies victory, and over his previous six starts, he's allowed 14 runs and 28 hits through 38 innings for a 3.32 ERA over that span.
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<p>
On the season Colorado, a team that's 11 games under .500 overall, is 17-10 with Marquez, 4-2 over his last six starts.
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<p>
In his most recent start against the Cardinals, back in August of last season, Marquez threw seven innings of three-hit, shutout ball in a 9-1 Rockies' win.
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<h2>
Thursday's Batting Splits<br />
</h2>
<p>
Colorado is batting .268/.327/.453 against right-handed pitching this season.
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<p>
St. Louis is batting .243/.316/.400 against RH pitching this season.
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<h3>
The Bullpens<br />
</h3>
<p>
The Rockies bullpen owns a 5.18 ERA this season and a 1.46 WHIP while allowing a .796 OPS. However, we must attribute some of those numbers to the ballpark this unit pitches half its games in.
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<p>
The Cardinals pen owns a 3.74 ERA and an ML-best 1.18 WHIP while allowing an ML-low .657 OPS. Numbers like those are why we rank this unit as the No. 1 bullpen in Baseball at the moment.
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<h3>
Totals Report<br />
</h3>
<ul>
<li>
Overs are 62-59 in Rockies games this season.
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<li>
Unders are a lopsided 69-49 in Cardinals games this season.
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<li>
Unders are 37-21 in games played at Busch Stadium this season.
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<li>
Overs played 5-2 in Rockies-Cardinals games last season.
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</ul>
<p><section></p>
<ul>
<li>
<span style="font-size:16px;"><b><span style="color:#008000;">Get more details:</span></b> <a class="advblue" href=" https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/matchup/1082808">Rockies at Cardinals MLB Match-up Stats</a> </span>
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</ul>
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