Los Angeles at Colorado

The Dodgers have quietly gone 17-9 in their last 26 games, and it is because of their pitching, as they have held opponents to four runs or less in 20 of those 26 games. One of the reasons has been the conversion of Chad Billingsley into the starting rotation. Billingsley was roughed up before he got comfortable, and has now won four of his last five starts while pitching to a 1.64 ERA. The Rockies rode a stretch of winning 13 of 15 Francis' starts, but have since gone 3-4, but Francis' struggles began long before that. He has pitched to a 5.30 ERA in his last 16 starts, and has not worked beyond five innings in seven of them. The Rockies have won 20 of Francis' 31 starts, but it isn't what he has done, it is the support he has gotten. The Rockies have averaged 6.65 runs a game in those starts and three runs a game in the 11 losses with him on the hill. Billingsley will keep that total down today, and the Dodgers will take GAME 1 of this doubleheader. THIS IS A GAME 1 PICK.