By Stephen Nover
Rockies at Marlins Over 7 1/2 minus $1.05
Why Over? Here’s the short answer: Chi Chi Gonzalez is starting and the total is less than 8.
Gonzalez is more of a reliever – and not a very good one at that. He has a 6.17 ERA in four relief appearances and a 4.42 ERA in seven starts this season. He draws the start here because Jon Gray has an injured elbow.
Good-looking rookie lefty Trevor Rogers gets the call for Miami. I’m wondering if Rogers is beginning to slip? He posted a 1.29 ERA in April, a 2.34 ERA in May and a 3.00 ERA during his one June start.
The Rockies lead the National League in batting average versus left-handed pitching at .276. Colorado ranks No. 2 in the National League against southpaws in various metric categories such as slugging percentage, on-base percentage and OPS.
There also is a good chance the Rockies get slugging shortstop Trevor Story for this game. He’s been out with an injured elbow.
Both bullpens are bad, too. I rate them among the seven-worst.
(In addition to this free selection, I have my NBA Game of the Week going today. I won 61 percent of my NBA plays last season and have been at my best on my biggest ones this season going 20-7 on my NBA Games of the Week/Month/Year plays for 74 percent. If you are interested in my sports service please email me at scriber26@gmail.com, or message me via Twitter. Best of luck and no bad beats!)