Sean Barnard takes you through his preview, prediction and best bet for Saturday’s baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Colorado Rockies.

All 30 teams are in action across Saturday’s MLB slate. In the later window, the Philadelphia Phillies will face off with the Colorado Rockies in the second game of this series at Coors Field. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET.

The Phillies enter a 1.5-run favorite with -259 moneyline odds on DraftKings Sportsbook, while the Rockies sit as a +209 underdog. The run total is set at 10 runs.

Rockies at Phillies prediction, preview

The Rockies are off to a 2-5 start to the season. They were swept by the Marlins in the opening series, then took two of three from the Blue Jays before getting blown out by Philadelphia on Friday. The Phillies piled up seven runs in the first inning and cruised to a 10-1 win. Colorado is 5-2 against the run line so far this season, falling under the run total in five of its seven matchups.

Brennan Bernardino will get the start for the Rockies tonight in what will be a bullpen game. He’s pitched in four games so far this year, allowing just two hits over three innings. The Phillies’ starting lineup has faced Bernadino in a combined 16 at-bats across his career, with four total hits notched.

Colorado is still developing their young core, with no player that has logged an at-bat this season over the age of 29. Hunter Goodman, T.J. Rumfield, Ezequiel Tovar, and Mickey Moniak are players they hope will emerge as foundational members of their future. As a team, the Rockies are posting slash lines of .221/.269/.336 with five home runs and 25 total runs on the season. There has been a greater sense of urgency in Colorado’s efforts to build a winning organization following some shake-ups in the front office, but the results have not yet shown on the field.

The Phillies enter with a 4-3 record through their first seven games and enter this matchup on a three-game winning streak. This is an organization that has won 90+ games in three consecutive seasons and is hoping to get over the World Series hump with largely the same core in place. Philadelphia had some struggles at the plate to start the year, and the 10-run outing on Friday was a sigh of relief for the high-priced roster. So far this year, the Phillies are 2-5 to the run line and 5-1-1 to the over/under.

Jesus Luzardo will be on the mound for Philadelphia tonight. The 28-year-old struggled in his first start this season after getting a massive contract extension this summer. Facing the Texas Rangers, Luzardo allowed two home runs for six earned runs in an 8-3 loss. He threw a career-high 183.2 innings last season in his first season in Philadelphia, posting a 3.92 ERA with 216 strikeouts.

Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Brandon Marsh each hit a home run on Friday, and the Phillies will look to repeat this effort in the hitter-friendly park. Adolis Garcia and Justin Crawford are two new faces in the outfield this season and have each had some solid early flashes. As a team, the Phillies are slashing .238/.324/.408 with 10 home runs and 33 total runs so far this season. Friday’s 10-run outing is doing some heavy lifting in these metrics, and the Phillies will look to build on this offensive explosion.

Rockies at Phillies pick, best bet

For the first time in a while, there should be confidence that the Rockies are trending in the right direction as an organization. But there is still a wide gap in talent between them and the league’s elite — which should be on display once again on Saturday.

Jesus Luzardo struggled with his control a bit in his first matchup this season, but he should bounce back against the lifeless Rockies offense. Colorado’s projected lineup has hit just .172 against him across 23 at-bats.

The Phillies’ bats were eerily quiet at the start of the season, and Friday marked the breakout they needed. This is a dangerous lineup that has not played up to its standard, and this type of spark should be exactly what they needed to get back on track. Even with the organization making major investments in its pitching, this team’s identity is built on potent offense. While there are some new faces, the Rockies’ bullpen finished last season with the second-highest ERA in the league at 5.18 and gave up an MLB-worst 99 home runs. Expect this to be a problem in Saturday’s matchup.

Expect Luzardo to bounce back and for Philadelphia’s star-studded lineup to provide plenty of run support — producing a similar result to Friday’s contest. For the sake of this article, I am locking in the Phillies to cover the 1.5-run line. But there is certainly some value in the alternate lines as well, if you want to get bold.

Best bet: Phillies -1.5 (-163)

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