The second half of the major league season resumes today after the three day break for the All Star game at St Louis. Previously before the break, the Rockies were one of the in form teams coming up to the half way mark whereas the Padres have continued in their struggles for the last two months. As the standings suggest, the Padres own the second worst record in the National League at the moment, and it is only the Nationals who are well below them. The San Diego ball club were 2-8 in their last ten games and were even on a receiving end of a no no by the Giants.

The Rockies started off very badly to the new season back in March but have since shown tremendous improvements over the last month or so. They have caught up many games compared to the others but attaining a play-off birth looks very tough for them as the NL West consists of the ever so consistent Dodgers and the surprisingly good Giants. Aaron Cook will start in this game with an 8-3 record. The right hander pitcher for the Rockies have not had the best of starts in his last two outings and will be determined to put all that behind him.

Pick: Rockies -1.5 @ 2.29