The Colorado Rockies (19-21) open a 7-game road trip Monday with the first of 3 games against the Pittsburgh Pirates (16-24). First pitch is 6:35 p.m. ET at PNC Park.

This is the first meeting this season between the two teams.

The Rockies just wrapped up a 9-game homestand and went only 3-6. They won just 1 game in each series and were shutout 2-0 by the New York Mets Sunday.

The Pirates were swept by the St. Louis Cardinals in a 3-game home series over the weekend, and have lost 7 of their last 10 games. Pittsburgh lost the series finale 18-4 Sunday.

Rockies at Pirates projected starters

RHP Chad Kuhl vs. RHP JT Brubaker

Kuhl (3-2, 3.86 ERA) makes his 8th start. He has a 1.18 WHIP, 3.1 BB/9 and 7.2 K/9 through 37 1/3 IP.

• Faces the Pirates for the first time in his career after pitching for them from 2016-2021.
• Got knocked around in his last 2 starts, both against the San Francisco Giants, as he allowed 10 earned runs in 7 2/3 innings pitched. He is 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA excluding those two outings.

Brubaker (0-4, 5.50 ERA) makes his 9th start. He has a 1.42 WHIP, 4.8 BB/9 and 10.8 K/9 through 36 IP.

• The Pirates are 3-5 in his starts.
• Has lost 13 of his last 14 decisions dating back to last season.
• The Pirates have not scored any runs in his last 2 starts.

Rockies at Pirates odds and lines

• Money line (ML): Rockies +115 (bet $100 to win $115) | Pirates -140 (bet $140 to win $100)
• Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Rockies +1.5 (-190) | Pirates -1.5 (+155)
• Over/Under (O/U): 7.5 (O: -115 | U: -107)

Rockies at Pirates picks and predictions

Prediction

Rockies 5, Pirates 1

Money line

The Rockies are 5-10 on the road this season and have dropped 9 of their last 10 road games. However, they face a Pittsburgh squad that has been shut out the last 2 of Brubaker’s starts.

The Pirates have lost 7 of their last 10 games and have scored 1 or 0 runs in 4 of those games.

Kuhl has not fared well in his last 2 starts but those were against a very good Giants team. He was unbeaten and had an ERA of 1.82 before those starts.

Expect him and the Rockies to pick up a win in the opener.

Take the ROCKIES (+115).

Run line/Against the spread

The Rockies are the worst road team in baseball against the spread. They are 5-10 ATS on the road.

The Pirates are 11-11 ATS at home but 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games.

All 5 losses of the Pirates’ losses with Brubaker starting have been by at least 3 runs.

I expect the Rockies to cover the spread tonight, but I don’t like the price. Better to stick with the money line bet and PASS here.

Over/Under

The last 2 of Kuhl’s starts had totals of 8 or more runs, but only one of his first 5 did.

Brubaker’s last 2 contests and 4 of his 8 starts have had totals of 7 or fewer runs.

I expect a good start by Kuhl and the Rockies to get a few runs off Brubaker but not enough to get the total to 8.

Take UNDER 7.5 (-107).

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