Dodgers add insult to injury with ninth inning blowout

DENVER – When German Márquez exited his start early, it wasn’t because he was dealt at the Trade Deadline.

Unfortunately, the news was equally as unpleasant as he hobbled off the field with assistance in the top half of the seventh.

GM Jeff Bridich said of the injury, “Full-body cramping… He tried to go out there and both legs cramped at the same time. He was in a bit of pain. Hopefully, he’ll hydrate the heck out of it and he should be good to go.”

The game entered the ninth without either team breaking through at the plate, only the third such occurrence of offensive futility in Coors Field history. The 0-0 score called for closer Wade Davis to get three outs and permit the Rockies to win in walk-off fashion. Adding insult to injury, Los Angeles broke through for five runs against Davis, including a three-run blast by rookie Will Smith and a two-run variety by recently-acquired Kristopher Negrón.

Before walking off the mound after a warmup pitch in the seventh and altering the fate of the rubber match, Márquez was simply dominant, mowing down ten Dodgers’ for his ninth game of double-digit strikeouts and his first since last September.

The 24-year-old did not give a free pass the entire game and the only base runner against him was Alex Verdugo, who reached on a single and double in the third and sixth innings, respectively.

The six innings of shutout baseball come on the heels of two quality appearances after his career-worst start on July 15 to open the second half. Over his last three games, Márquez has thrown 20 innings and charged with only four runs, he best stretch of the season thus far.

On the other side of the diamond, NL All-Star starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu matched with six goose eggs of his own. The Rockies put the ball in play a lot on Wednesday afternoon, striking out only once, but could only put together three hits.

The best opportunity for Colorado came in the third inning when Tony Wolters hit a two-bagger off the auxiliary scoreboard with one out. Charlie Blackmon singled to right field, albeit shallowly, and Wolters was thrown at a home by leading MVP candidate Cody Bellinger.

Jake McGee responded in the seventh with three consecutive strikeouts after walking Max Muncy. Scott Oberg painted himself into a corner by loading the bases with singles to Verdugo and Negrón and a walk to Joc Pederson; Mr. Stability got a fly out to end the threat and give Colorado another chance at victory.

The Rockies did respond in the ninth with a run courtesy of Trevor Story’s triple and Nolan Arenado’s RBI single; however, it was too little, too late.

The loss gives Colorado a 6-19 (.240) record for the month of July, the worst winning percentage for any full month in franchise history.