German Marquez dominates Dodgers, Rockies win third straight

For the second game in a row, the Colorado Rockies got a superb performance out of their starting pitcher. German Marquez only allowed Tyler Anderson to hold sole possession of the Rockies season record for longest out for one whole day, picking up eight innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers once again.

Marquez did give up a run, where Anderson did not, but he was every bit as dominant, showcasing a killer instinct and a command of the pace of the game that would be well imitated by the rest of the pitchers in the organization. He made one mistake, gave up two hits, did not walk a batter and struck out nine in a display of brilliance that led to the Rockies third straight road win inside the division.

The offense once again did just enough in a 3-1 victory, though Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda was just as good in the early going.

The Rockies finally broke through in the fourth with the first baserunner in the game. DJ LeMahieu did the deed by pulling a hard grounder inside the left-field line for a double. Charlie Blackmon managed to advance LeMahieu to third with a productive out—a flyball to deep-enough center.

The run scored in odd fashion on a play in which Nolan Arenado struck out with a runner at third base and one out. And that wasn’t the craziest part. The ball got away from catcher Yasmani Grandal and LeMahieu was able to score anyway. It was a catchable ball for Grandal and a huge break for the Rockies.

Colorado added a more traditional run in the fifth on an Ian Desmond solo home run. Desmond’s 17th dinger of the season was impressive not only as a further part of his considerable turnaround this season but also because it came against Maeda who has held right-handed hitters to below a .200 batting average on the season.

Enrique Hernandez broke up Marquez’ bid for a perfect game, no-hitter, and shutout with one swing to lead off the sixth, smashing a high fastball well over the wall in left. That home run gave the Dodgers 55 for the month of June, tying the Atlanta Braves for the most homers in a single month in National League history.

As seems to always happen in these cases, the next batter, Chase Utley, followed with a single, LA suddenly finding confidence against the young Rockies starter. But Marquez focused, refused to allow his counterpart to lay down an easy sac bunt, forcing a two-out-swing-into-a-lineout before retiring Joc Pederson and Max Muncy to strand Utley and end the frame with his club still in the lead at 2-1.

The offense matched Marquez’ effort by supplying him with an insurance run in the seventh. Trevor Story led things off with a ground-rule double down the right-field line and Gerardo Parra followed that with a walk. Desmond struck out swinging but Chris Iannetta picked him up by staying back on a breaking ball and hitting a liner back up the middle to score Story easily from second.

The Rockies nearly plated another on a squeeze play from Marquez but Grandal made a nice play on a diving tag to narrowly get Parra at the plate.

Marquez backed that up with two of his quickest and most impressive innings of the evening, running through Matt Kemp, Cody Bellinger, Grandal, Yasiel Puig, Hernandez, and Utley like a hot knife through butter in the seventh and eighth. His strikeout of Hernandez in the eighth came on a 100 mph fastball.

With Wade Davis unavailable, manager Bud Black turned to Adam Ottavino for the save, the second time he has done so this season. Otto returned to the scene of his most nightmarish outing a season ago and did give up a two-out single and looked like he might get got by his old nemesis, Justin Turner, but the fly ball to left fell short of the track and into Parra’s glove for the final out to secure the win.

Colorado improved to 41-42.

Final Stats:

German Marquez: 8 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K

Adam Ottavino: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB (S: 2)

Ian Desmond: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (17)

DJ LeMahieu: 1-for-4, 1 R

Trevor Story: 1-for-3, 1 R

What’s Next:

The Rockies aim for the series sweep on Sunday afternoon. Chad Bettis faces off against Ross Stripling who has had one of the most surprisingly successful 2018 campaigns of anyone in MLB so far this season. First pitch at 2:10 Mountain Time.