Sunday Afternoon Baseball Bets – Nationals vs. Rockies (5/16)

Everyone dogged the Washington National’s decision to send Strasburg to the minors, and while I wasn’t one of them, their logic seems to be panning out. As the Cleveland Cavaliers will tell you, depending on a superstar can cripple a team and the Nationals standing with a winning record is proof that they made the right choice. They’ll end their four-game series with the Colorado Rockies in a Sunday afternoon baseball betting game, with hopes of padding their winning record.

One of the reasons Strasburg was sent down was because Washington simply needed to see what their other pitchers could do. When he comes up to the majors soon, somebody will be losing their place in the rotation. Scott Olsen will not be one of the guys on the short list.

Olsen is 2-1 SU with a season ERA of 3.51. In six starts during the MLB betting season, Olsen has allowed 34 hits in 33.1 innings, but only has 13 earned runs against total. The Nationals are also 4-2 SU when he starts.

However, one of Olsen’s losses is against the Colorado Rockies where he easily pitched his worst game of the season giving up 7 hits and 6 runs in just 2.0 innings in late April. Olsen has since cleaned up his act, which could mean bad news for the Rockies unless Aaron Cook can find some sterner stuff.

Washington Nationals vs. Colorado Rockies
Sunday, May 16th — Coors Field — 3:10pm EST
MLB Pitching Matchup – Scott Olsen (L)  /  Aaron Cook (R)

Everyone likes to praise the bats of Colorado, but one thing that has finally caught up to them is their lackluster pitching. Cook is one of those guys. In his last game, against Philadelphia, he gave up 8 hits in 6.0 innings but still held them to 3 runs earned.

On the season, Cook has allowed 44 hits and 27 runs in 40.1 innings and while he’s just 1-3 SU as a starter, the team is 4-3 SU when he gets the call at the stripe. Backed by Colorado’s mysteriously top ranked home ERA ranking, Cook better damn well return money on any investors who side with him.

Where To Watch: WDCW, FSRM

It still strange, though, that the Colorado Rockies’ pitchers can do so well at Coors and the team defense can’t back them up. The Rockies allow 4.9 runs per game at home, ranking 11th. While Washington’s road offense isn’t that much better, they’re pitching can most certainly bail them out of a funk.

When forecasting Sunday baseball bets, my vote always goes to the starting pitcher with the momentum regardless of record. Cook is a bit suspect, and I really like what Olsen is doing. When the odds open up, you’ll see that Olsen will get some attractive MLB betting odds, and you should take advantage of them.

Furious Sunday Baseball Bet – Washington RL and ML (UNDER)