The betting world is a bit stunned at the results so far from the Colorado Rockies and the Philadelphia Phillies. These are two teams that had high hopes for the 2010 season, and both have fallen way below expectations. While the city of Denver gets ready for NFL betting this season, the Rockies continue to fall away from the NL West leaders and also out of the NL wild card spot.

The Philadelphia Phillies just cannot score runs, and even the addition of Cy Young winning pitcher Roy Halladay has not helped the Phillies to grab first place in the NL East as they trail the Atlanta Braves by seven games. As college football betting starts to come into focus for this season, the Phillies’ chances of making the playoffs begin to blur.

This game is extremely important to both teams because if either team wants to be in the MLB betting considerations for the post season, they need to start winning games. In the wild card race the Rockies trail the leading Cincinnati Reds by one game and the Phillies trail by four games. The Phillies have lost six of their last 10, including a devastating four game losing streak. The Phillies need to turn it around now, or they can forget the playoffs.

The Rockies are .500 in their last 10 games, and they continue to lose on the road as their most recent loss came in Florida against the Marlins. Both the Rockies and the Phillies have losing records on the road, and if you want to make the playoffs you have to learn to win in the other team’s building.

The Phillies will send Roy Halladay to the mound for this critical game. Halladay has a 10-8 record but he also has a 2.40 ERA. How does an elite pitcher post a great ERA like that and still hover at the .500 mark? The Phillies just cannot score runs. The Phillies can hit the long ball, but they are having problems turning those home runs into multiple RBI situations. They cannot get on base, and they cannot get runners in scoring position. So Halladay goes out and pitches a perfect one run game, only to lose 1-0.

The Rockies send out Aaron Cook and his 4-5 record along with a 4.56 ERA. Cook has a good history against the Phillies as he pitched the only game the Rockies won in the playoffs against the Phillies last season. In his last start Cook went seven innings of scoreless baseball. He has momentum on his side, he is facing a team he has beaten in a clutch situation in the recent past and the Phillies cannot hit the baseball.

When you add everything up it just does not look good for the Phillies. When you have a pitcher like Roy Halladay and he is not at 14 or 15 wins by now considering how he has been pitching, then your team offense is broken and needs serious repair. The Rockies need to start a push towards the playoffs, and they may as well start it against last year’s NL champions.

Pick: Colorado Rockies 2-1