New York Mets vs. Colorado Rockies August 22 Free Pick

By MLB

Well it sure feels nice to get that ugly negative away from our season’s total and get back into the black here late in August. We’ve got five more plays coming in August, which will continue to prove tougher than originally anticipated if our team here at the World Series continues to win. No surprises today with another under play. Somehow I’m often attracted to the big number Coors Field offers and that’s where we go out to tonight. The New York Mets come off a 14-run win last night to up their lead in the NL East to five full games. But did they use up a week’s allotment of runs in last night’s win? A pair of lefty starters go head to head tonight in the Rockies.

Free Pick

Neither starting pitcher is incredibly attractive as far as shutdown aces go. But both Jonathon Niese and Chris Rusin have some qualities about them that I like to at least keep this under the massive 10.5 posted total.

First and foremost, they are both fairly steady in terms of pitching deep enough into the game and coming close to quality start numbers on a consistent basis. In fact, Niese has allowed more than three earned runs just once in his last 14 starts. The lefty’s 1.30 WHIP and 3.50 ERA are actually pretty darn nice numbers that just get sbloverlooked in the ridiculously deep New York starting rotation. His handedness gives him the advantage over Carlos Gonzalez who has been so hot that he deserves attention of his own going into this one. If Niese comes up with another one of his quality outings, it would be a great start to hitting a total under 10.5.

Then there’s Rusin who is coming off his best start of the year – a complete game shutout of the San Diego Padres. He came into that one off the heels of a six inning, one run performance the time before so it’s safe to say he probably feels pretty good about the way he’s throwing the ball right now. Going up against a Mets’ offense that shouldn’t scare him any more than his last two opponents, let’s take a stab at backing a decent enough Rusin outing. I think this number is a tad high out West.

Free Pick: Under 10.5 -110

YTD: 17-14-4 +0.31

2014: 45-28-3 +9.02


Leave a Comment