Diamondbacks vs Rockies Odds, Picks, and Probable Pitchers (August 21)
- The Colorado Rockies are home favorites over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night
- Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland (4-6, 4.40) will face Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen (1-7, 5.03)
- The odds and pitching matchups can be found below with a prediction
The Colorado Rockies, winners of four of their last five games, host the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have won six of their last seven, in a tussle of National League West also-rans at 8:10pm ET Saturday in the second of a three-game set at Coors Field.
With lefty (and former 17-game winner) Kyle Freeland getting the start Saturday, the Rockies are favorites.
Diamondbacks vs Rockies Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Diamondbacks | +145 | -+.5 (-135) | Over 11.5 (-120) |
| Colorado Rockies | -165 | -1.5 (+115) | Under 11.5 (+100) |
Odds as of August 20h at DraftKings.
The Rockies opened as -165 favorites on the money line and have seen those odds hold firm heading into first pitch Saturday.
Probable Pitchers
On the mound, Colorado’s Kyle Feeland (4-6, 4.40) faces Arizona’s Zac Gallen (1-7, 5.03).
Freeland missed almost two months at the beginning of the season with a left shoulder strain. Since coming back May 25th, he’s tossed six quality starts (all coming June 22nd or later) in 15 starts. Four of the six have come since July 17th, with the most recent being his previous outing last Saturday against the Giants, who own the best record in baseball.
Gallen vs Freeland Key Stats
| 1-7 | Record | 4-6 |
| 5.03 | ERA | 4.40 |
| 3.98 | xERA | 4.04 |
| 1.41 | WHIP | 1.42 |
| 2.56 | SO/W | 2.86 |
Freeland went six innings against San Francisco, allowing five hits, an earned run, two walks and striking out six in an eventual 4-1 win. The victory marked the southpaw’s third straight victory after dropping four straight.
Freeland is 3-2 with a 4.79 ERA in seven home starts this season. In 11 night game starts, he has a 2-6 record and 3.90 ERA.
Kyle Freeland's last five starts: 2.79 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 2.63 FIP, 3.63 xFIP, and 3.66 SIERA.
The key is the weak contact: 46.9 GB%, 3.7 Barrel%, and 34.1 HH%.
These 5 starts were against the Giants, Marlins, Cubs, Padres, and Dodgers with MIA/CHC at home. pic.twitter.com/fRZGWxLTDx
— Michael Simione (@SPStreamer) August 20, 2021
As for Gallen, the 26-year-old has not been very good this season. Out of his 15 starts, only three have been of the quality vintage. The last one came July 30th against the Dodgers. As for his most recent outing, the right-hander went five innings last Sunday against the Padres, allowing eight hits (three of which were home runs), four earned runs and three walks while striking out five in an 8-2 Arizona loss.
Gallen is 1-2 with a 5.50 ERA in seven starts on the road in 2021. He’s 0-4 with a 4.91 ERA in eight night game starts. Fernando Tatis Jr. had a nice little game against in that six-run loss to close out the weekend.
ZAC GALLEN WASHED LMFAO https://t.co/W7PKCL7d6n
— Hunter 🇺🇦 (@HuntTheMinor) August 15, 2021
Still Fighting
Both teams have taken advantage of the slumping San Diego Padres in the last week-plus — but have no legitimate chance of running down their division rival in the Wild Card standings. Colorado swept San Diego in the Mile High City earlier this week, while the Snakes took three of four from the Pads last weekend.
After finishing in either second or third place in the competitive NL West over manager Torey Lovullo’s first three seasons, Arizona has fallen off the cliff since the start of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. The club owned a combined 66-116 record over the last season-plus and were a whopping 37.5 games out of first place this season entering the Colorado series.
Josh Rojas cuts the lead! pic.twitter.com/Si0mcV40Jc
— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) August 15, 2021
On the bright side, the road team comes into Coors on a roll.
Arizona’s recent run has been led by its leading hitter, Josh Rojas. Over the last seven games prior to Friday, Rojas has gone 15-for-26 (.577), including four doubles, a triple and a home run while scoring five runs and driving in five.
And handful of other players — like David Peralta and Asdrubal Cabrera — have had other big hits over the last week week as the D-backs are enjoying their best stretch since late April
Batting Average vs Starting Pitchers
| Arizona Batters | Batting Average vs Kyle Freeland | Colorado Batters | Batting Average vs Zac Gallen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Ahmed | .308 | Trevor Story | .231 |
| Ketel Marte | .308 | Charlie Blackmon | .583 |
| Asdrubal Cabrera | .250 | CJ Cron | .000 |
| Carson Kelly | .333 | Ryan McMahon | .364 |
| Christian Walker | .294 | Elias Diaz | .500 |
The hitter whose success against Gallen pops off the table is Charlie Blackmon. He’s 7-for-13 lifetime against him, including a pair of doubles. Ryan McMahon also has a solid history against the right-hander, going 4-for-11 (including two doubles) with three runs driven in.
Diamondbacks vs Rockies Pick
While it’s tempting to fade the favorite here due to Rojas’ recent stretch of dominance at the plate, the safer play is Colorado with Freeland on the bump.
The lefty has enjoyed great success over the few weeks — and I suspect that success continues Saturday.
The Pick: Rockies (-165)
Blair Johnson is a veteran journalist and seasoned sports content creator. He has been writing and producing content as long as he can remember, with such familiar names as CNN, NFL Media and Yahoo. Blair currently lives and works in the greater Los Angeles area.
