Bullpen blows opener in St. Louis; Márquez makes more history

Baseball and the supernatural may not have a lot in common, but walks and ghosts are very similar: both will come back to haunt you.

Rockies starting pitcher German Márquez threw six strong innings of four run ball, but a leadoff walk in the sixth scored immediately thereafter on a homer to reduce Colorado’s lead to one.

That lead was washed away when reliever Yency Almonte repeated form with a free pass to a pinch hitter to start the seventh inning and the next batter followed suit with a go-ahead long ball for the Cardinals.

Márquez entered the game 4-0 over his last six starts since July 21, making quality starts in four of those games to go along with a 3.32 ERA and 43 strikeouts to only five walks during that span. Though his bid for a QS fell short by one earned run, his four strikeouts did move him into ninth place in franchise history for strikeouts in a single-season (175) .

Coupled with his single-season franchise record of 230 strikeouts in 2018, Márquez joins Ubaldo Jiménez and Jon Gray as only the third pitcher to have multiple seasons on the Rockies’ top-10 single-season strikeout list.

Colorado touched home plate first in St. Louis after three consecutive singles from Daniel Murphy, Raimel Tapia and Ryan McMahon, the latter recording his 75th RBI of the season in the second inning. Tony Wolters lofted one to center field that was deep enough to score another on a sacrifice fly.

The Cardinals waited until the fourth frame before tying the game at two courtesy of a single by familiar foe Paul Goldschmidt and a two-run home run off the bat of Marcell Ozuna. With no outs, Paul DeJong reached on an unlikely fielding error by Trevor Story, but Márquez salvaged the inning with a double play that wiped the bases clear.

Colorado answered in the top of the fifth with a three-run blast from Nolan Arenado, his sixth in seven games. Also scoring were Márquez – who hit his fourth double of the season, tying him for the second-most two-baggers in a single season for a pitcher in franchise history – and Blackmon, who singled to the opposite field.

St. Louis’ next offensive outburst began with Ozona in the sixth, drawing a rare base on balls against Márquez. A second pitch slider left up in the zone for DeJong was tagged over the center field wall to reduce the Rockies’ lead, 5-4.

Almonte walked pinch hitter Matt Carpenter to start the seventh and former Rockies’ outfielder Dexter Fowler flipped the lead with a two-run blast that put ahead the Cardinals for good, 6-5.

D.J. Johnson pitched the eighth inning and escaped without permitting an insurance run for the home club. After a walk, double and another walk, Johnson induced pinch hitter Lane Adams into a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.

Colorado had a final shot at redemption when St. Louis closer Carlos Martinez struggled to find the plate, walking both Ian Desmond and Tony Wolters. Yonder Alonso was summoned from the bench and Charlie Blackmon got a crack at extending the game, but both failed to deliver on the haunting, sealing the Cardinal 6-5 victory.