Houston is thin Air – Astros at Rockies

BetOnline MLB betting odds: Rockies -175, Astros +155, Total 10

The Astros will go with Felipe Paulino (0-2, 2.55 ERA) on the hill tonight, while the Rockies counter with fellow right-hander Ubaldo Jiminez (2-4, 5.46 ERA).

Here are some of the MLB Baseball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* HOU has won six of its last nine road games

* HOU has played four of its last six road games OVER the total

* COL has lost four of its last six games

* COL has played 11 of its last 15 home games OVER the total

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD sports betting trends:

* Eight of the last 12 meetings have gone OVER the total

* COL has won six of the last nine meetings as the home team

* Seven of the last 10 meetings in Denver have gone UNDER the total

Houston is off a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres, in which they out-scored San Diego 19-9. On Sunday they benefited from homers by Carlos Lee and Miguel Tejada and were overjoyed when Ivan Rodriguez, the future Hall of Famer, found his stroke with a 4-for-4 day, which also included a home run, The hitting shoes were out for the ‘Stros on that particular day.

Colorado has not been so fortunate. The Rockies have lost three of their last four games, although they did win Sunday over Florida behind a solid pitching performance by Aaron Cook, who gave up just one run over six innings. Troy Tulowitzki hit a homer for Colorado, but he is hitting just .237 on the season. On an overall basis offense has been a problem lately for the Rockies; after scoring 11 runs against the Giants last Wednesday, they have crossed the plate just ten times in the last four games.

After their three-game winning streak, the Astros are now 5.5 games behind the front-running St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central, while the Rockies have fallen 8.5 games in back of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.

If Colorado thought it was experiencing some offensive problems, they are glad they haven’t been in Houston’s shoes this year. The Astros are 14th in the National League in scoring on the road (3.5 runs a game) and have averaged less than four runs a game overall. The 12-run outburst against San Diego was an anomaly.

Felipe Paulino has been a pleasant surprise for this team, without a doubt. He got a rough start to his career back in 2007, but Paulino looks like he may be able to emerge as a solid Houston starter. His first effort was against Cincinnati on April 19, where he pitched six scoreless innings against the Reds. Then, after allowing four runs in six innings against Milwaukee, he faced Cincy again, allowing just one earned run in 5-2/3 frames. The Astros have scored four runs in his three starts, however, and have lost all three of those games.

Ubaldo Jiminez vanquished Arizona in his first start of the season (no runs in seven innings) before going through a bit of a tailspin, surrendering sixteen earned runs in 12 innings. He has since bounced back, with back-to-back seven-inning stints against the Giants where he has yielded only four runs on ten hits. The Rockies need him to do well if they want any chance of contending.

Two pitchers doing well right now, and no offensive support. I know only one way to go with this one – under 10 runs in the BetOnline National League baseball betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: UNDER 10 (-110) ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)