Upstart Nats try to keep rolling in Colorado

Baseball Betting Lines

05/14/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Runs may be scarce in tonight's matchup between the Washington Nationals and Colorado Rockies, as two of the top ERA leaders get together in the second portion of a four-game series from Coors Field.

Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez is 6-1 with a 0.93 earned run average, while Nats veteran Livan Hernandez sports a 4-1 mark and a 1.04 ERA.

Jimenez is attempting to do something he isn't used to Friday, and that's rebound from a loss. He was 6-0 with an 0.87 ERA over his first six starts of the season and had been a recipient of great run support until squaring off with the Dodgers last Sunday. In the 2-0 setback at Chavez Ravine, Jimenez suffered the tough-luck loss for allowing just a run and two hits through seven innings.

One of the NL's top hurlers so far this season, Jimenez has allowed two or more runs just once in 2010 and has lasted at least six innings in each of his appearances. The hard-throwing righty, who tossed a no-hitter in Atlanta a month ago, beat Washington on April 22 with 7 1/3 shutout innings and allowed five hits in the 2-0 victory. Jimenez is 3-1 in five career starts against the Nationals.

Washington hopes that Hernandez can go toe-to-toe with Colorado's emerging staff ace when he takes the ball this evening, one night after the Nationals claimed a 14-6 victory that was called after eight innings due to inclement weather in the series opener . Hernandez did not record a decision his last time out in a 3-2 Nats' triumph over Florida on Sunday, when he held the Marlins to a run and five hits through seven innings.

Hernandez, a right-hander, remained at 4-1 this season and had his ERA raised slightly from 0.99 to 1.04 in his sixth start of 2010. He pitched well in the aforementioned loss versus Jimenez and the Rockies in late April, allowing both runs and four hits in eight innings of work.

The Nationals continued their climb up the NL East standings and pulled within one game of idle Philadelphia with last night's rain-shortened victory. Ryan Zimmerman homered twice and drove in a career-high six runs while Cristian Guzman had a three-run double for Washington, which has won two straight and five of its last six games.

"It was a real offensive game, both clubs getting after it," Nationals manager Jim Riggleman said. "But the conditions got real nasty after a while. The umpires made a good decision to get us off the field."

Nats starter John Lannan surrendered four runs on six hits with four walks in 4 2/3 innings for the no-decision. Doug Slaten recorded two outs in the seventh inning to get the win.

The Nationals are 3-1 thus far on a nine-game road trip against the Mets, Rockies and Cardinals.

Colorado fell six games off the lead in the National League West after yesterday's eight-run loss and has dropped three of its last four games. Miguel Olivo ended 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBI, one day after going 5- for-5 with a game-winning home run in the bottom of the 10th inning of a 4-3 win over the Phillies on Wednesday.

Troy Tulowitzki and Ian Stewart both finished with two hits and an RBI for the Rockies, who got a rough outing from losing pitcher Jhoulys Chacin. The rookie was reached for six runs and six hits in five innings. Matt Daley allowed four runs and Randy Flores surrendered three in relief.

"While we were hitting our way back into the game, the field conditions kept getting worse," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "We never got completely over the hump."

Washington and Colorado split a four-game series from April 19-22 at Nationals Park, but the Rockies have won 11 of the last 14 meetings between the teams.

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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year

Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.

With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.

Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.

Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

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