Rockies earn first victory of 2018 behind Blackmon, new bullpen

Looks like someone gave the new Chase Field humidor a healthy kick before game three of the season-opening series between the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks.

After a suboptimal 0-2 start to 2018, the Rockies looked to salvage anything from their opening series on Saturday night. In a much more offensively-suppressed game than the previous two, Charlie Blackmon accounted for the Rockies’ entire offense, and it would be enough to secure the team’s first victory of the season, as the highly-touted relief corps. preserved their first lead as a group.

Where his predecessors Jon Gray and Tyler Anderson faltered, with both allowing runs before recording an out, it seemed German Marquez was on the same trajectory in his first start of the year. He battled some control issues, but ultimately had his stuff, specifically his curveball, allowing only one run (it was unearned) in his five innings of work, and was only pulled due to an elevated pitch count with four walks and two additional three-ball counts.

The sophomore righty allowed back-to-back singles to David Peralta and A.J. Pollock to begin the game, putting a runner in scoring position almost immediately and making Rockies fans groan “here we go again.” But, Marquez rebounded with a clutch strikeout of Paul Goldschmidt. A ground ball and a fly ball later, and Marquez had escaped the jam unfazed.

Marquez would face another two-runner situation in the second, following a double off the bat of the red-hot Nick Ahmed and walk by Jeff Mathis. This time it was a line out from Greinke to Trevor Story that doubled off Ahmed.

His counterpart from Arizona, 2017 National League Wild Card game starter Zack Greinke, matched Marquez’s start and then some. Greinke allowed only five Rockies to put the ball in fair territory the first time through the order, striking out the trio of Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Arenado and Tony Wolters and getting Carlos Gonzalez to pop up in foul territory

After a 1-2-3 third, Marquez’s dances with fire finally burned him in the fourth frame. Daniel Descalso reached on a fastball that he punched through the first-base hole, and advanced to third on a Story error as he tried to handle a Jarrod Dyson ground ball near second base that he tried to pick up whilst turning a double play, ole-ing it into center field. Marquez came within inches of almost getting away without a scratch yet again, but Ahmed beat out a would-be double play ball, allowing Descalso to trot home with the game’s first run.

After seemingly getting in more trouble early in the fifth with a leadoff walk to Peralta, he repented with a filthy pickoff move to erase the runner. He would walk the next batter, Pollock, as well, but continued his embarrassment of Goldschmidt with a weak groundball and found Jake Lamb wanting on a curveball in the dirt for strike three to end the frame.

After nine consecutive outs, the Rockies finally broke through against Greinke on the first pitch of the sixth. Charlie Blackmon yanked a low-middle curve roughly 2o rows deep down the right field line for his second home run of the young season, tying the game at 1. After inducing a flyball out from DJ LeMahieu and striking out Arenado for the second time, Greinke was chased from the game by a Gonzalez base hit to center. He threw 83 pitches, struck out nine and allowed five hits in his 5.2 innings of work in a dominant season debut.

Against former teammate Jorge De La Rosa, CarGo stole his first base since Aug. 14 of last season, but was stranded in scoring position when Gerardo Parra flew out to center to end the frame.

Chris Rusin and Bryan Shaw threw consecutive scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh, both inducing inning-ending double plays.

In the eighth, Blackmon earned his second slow jog around the bases, this time taking Fernando Salas even deeper to right field, trotting among a sea of boos from the Chase Field faithful and putting the Rockies up 2-1 and giving the newly-enforced bullpen its first late-inning lead to protect.

Jake McGee retired the Diamondbacks’ big bats of Pollock, Goldschmidt and Lamb in order, freezing the latter on a fastball for the strikeout to end the frame.

After an uneventful top of the ninth, prized free agent acquisition Wade Davis came in for his Rockies debut.

Davis got Descalso to fly out to shallow center, followed that with strikeouts of Ketel Marte and Ahmed, and that was that. Easy and efficient, and the Rockies came away with their first win.

Rockies 2, Diamondbacks 1.

Final stats

German Marquez: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R (0 ER), 4 BB, 4 K

Chris Rusin: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K

Bryan Shaw: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Jake McGee: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Charlie Blackmon: 2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 SO

Trevor Story: 0-for-4, 0 K

 

Zack Greinke: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R (1 ER), 9 K

Fernando Salas: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 K

Paul Goldschmidt: 0-for-4, 2 K, 3 LOB

Daniel Descalso: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 K

What’s next

After an off day on Sunday, the Rockies get back in action on Monday at Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, beginning a stretch of 17 consecutive days with games. First pitch is slated for 8:10 MDT.