Rockies rout Mariners behind Wolters' record-setting night

Just before Friday night’s contest between the Colorado Rockies and the Seattle Mariners, it was announced that catcher Tom Murphy, who was originally to start behind the plate, would need to be a late scratch so he could get home to attend the birth of his child.

That meant Tony Wolters, usually a defensive specialist, was required to make an emergency start. And he made the absolute most of it, showcasing some nifty work behind the dish to get some extra outs, and some nifty work at the dish to get some extra bases, helping to power his club to a 7-1 win. It was especially impressive when you consider the Mariners came into the game with a 30-15 record at home.

Wolters also caught a great game from German Marquez. While it wasn’t quite the eight-innings of shutdown baseball he threw last time out, he was still superb in outpitching childhood hero, Felix Hernandez.

Colorado picked up their first run in the first inning on Charlie Blackmon’s solo home run. After falling behind 0-2, he fouled off a number of tough pitches before getting a breaking pitch he could handle lining one over the wall in center field. It was his 16th home run of the season. All but four have come out on the road.

The Rockies added a pair of runs in the second, the rally starting with Raimel Tapia’s first MLB hit of the season, a ground-rule double on a line shot to right. The Mariners were lucky the ball hopped over the wall or Tapia would have had at least three bags with ease. The break meant little a few moments later when Tony Wolters put together one of his better at-bats of the season to hit a liner off the wall in right-center, scoring Tapia.

It looked like the throw in might beat him to the third-base bag but the ball bounced off of Wolter’s shoulder, allowing for the stand-up triple. It also meant he could trot home on DJ LeMahieu flyball to right field, making it 3-0 Rockies.

Marquez had not given up a baserunner going into the fourth inning but suddenly gave up back-to-back singles to Jean Segura and Denard Span.

In his first spot of trouble, Marquez threw some of his best pitches of the night to strike out Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager, both swinging.

The Rockies were able to add in the sixth. It started when Ian Desmond, who seems to be making a habit of this, reached on a throwing error from the shortstop. Tapia followed with a walk and, apparently, every time he reaches base, Wolters hits a triple. It happened for the second straight time as both runners scored when Wolters line drive skipped by the centerfielder. Wolters became the first catcher in franchise history to record two triples in one game.

He scored on a ground-rule double off the bat of LeMahieu who continues to show that he has added a power element to his game.

Marquez battled through the bottom of the sixth as his pitch count elevated above 100. Gordon led off with a single up the middle and was successful in his second attempt to steal second after Wolters had nailed him earlier in the game. He was able to move up on a Segura groundout but tried for home on a ball in the dirt that Wolters collected quickly and fired back to the plate. Marquez was covering and able to tag Gordon out to preserve the shutout.

Unfortunately for Marquez, the zero on the scoreboard lasted just one pitch as Span got his next offering square on the barrel to line a homer just over the wall in right to get Seattle on the board.

Jake McGee pitched a quick and clean seventh inning.

Scott Oberg ran into some trouble in the eighth when he gave up consecutive singles to Guillermo Heredia and Andrew Romine but escaped the jam when he got Segura to ground into an inning-ending double play.

The Rockies got some insurance in the top of the ninth, getting a one-out single from Blackmon, his third hit in the game. He scored on an opposite-field double off the bat of Carlos Gonzalez.

Chris Rusin worked the ninth and gave up a leadoff single to Span but left him at first after recording three straight outs to complete a nice night for the bullpen and secure the win.

Colorado improved to 45-43 and are now just 3.5 games back of first place in the NL West. They have won four in a row and seven of their last eight games.

Final Stats:

German Marquez: 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

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

Scott Oberg: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER

Tony Wolters: 2-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 3B

Charlie Blackmon: 3-for-5, 2 R, 1 RBI HR (16)

DJ LeMahieu: 1-for-3. 2 RBI

Raimel Tapia: 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 BB

Ian Desmond: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB

What’s Next:

The second game will feature two of the best lefties in MLB so far this season in James Paxton and Kyle Freeland. First pitch at 2:10 Mountain Time.