Jim Feist

Reason: Colorado has won four straight games as they close out the first half of the season. The look for the sweep here today vs the Mariners. The Rockies have won 10-7 and then yesterday 4-1 over Seattle. In fact, the Rockies are kind of sad to see the break, having won 10 of their last 12 games. Tyler Anderson will start today. Anderson is 6-3 for Colorado with a 3.76 ERA. Anderson has allowed just one run over his last three starts (20 innings). Seattle will start Mike Leake today. Leake is 8-6 on the year with a 4.36 ERA and 1.323 WHIP. Leake has struggled recently, allowing eight earned runs over his last eight innings with three walks and just five KO's. The Rockies are hot and they have the edge on the mound today too. I'm playing Colorado.

Croatia would get my award for the scrapiest team in this year's World Cup. For such a small country to pull off such a big feat is simply amazing. France, among favorites to win this cup, had an easy route through group C play with Denmark, Peru and Australia. They beat Argentina 4-3 in the round of 16 and then Uruguay in the semifinals, 2-0. They advanced to today's final with a win over Belgium, 1-0. Croatia won their group over Argentina, a big shock to many. They swept group play by outscoring opponents 7-1. They had to go to penalty kicks to defeat Denmark in the round of 16. They needed penalty kicks to then beat Russia in the quarterfinals. They beat England in the semifinals, 2-1, despite falling behind 0-1 early in the match. I look at Croatia as the Cinderella team, if this was a NCAA basketball tournament. Croatia has been able to pull through no matter what and I'm taking them as a dog here today. Play Croatia.