Rox fall to Braves in frigid first game at Coors Field

DENVER — This was not the Home Opener the Colorado Rockies were hoping for. On a frigid day at Coors Field, almost nothing went right for the home team in an 8-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

It was a rough day at the park for German Marquez who had the club’s sole solid outing in Arizona. Perhaps he prefers the warmth.

This outing keeps a streak alive where each starting pitcher who two appearances now has one good and one pretty bad start.

The Rockies were put immediately on their heels after a one-hour weather delay, it took just under 30 minutes for the Braves to score four runs against Marquez who issued a pair of free passes after a solo home run by Ozzie Albies. He then fell victim to misfortune on a bloop single to center off the bat of Kurt Suzuki. Still, he was a groundball away from escaping the damage. But he would not get his ground ball.

Preston Tucker came through with a sac fly to left, making it 2-0 Atlanta and putting Marquez a pitch away from salvation but Dansby Swanson delivered the early back-breaker, lining a triple to right centerfield, unloading the bases and putting the Braves on top by four.

Colorado struck back with an RBI triple from Carlos Gonzalez in the bottom of the first. They made it a one-run game with back-t0-back homers from CarGo and Trevor Story in the fourth before Atlanta pulled away again.

After getting two quick outs, Marquez could not finish off the fifth, walking Tucker and getting stung again by Swanson, this time on a two-bagger. Again, though, the young righty had a chance to work out of it, getting pitcher Brandon McCarthy to the plate with two outs after an intentional walk.

But McCarthy made the Rockies pay for it, getting the first extra-base hit of his 13-year career on a double to right, scoring a pair and chasing Marquez from the game.

The Braves added another run off of Chris Rusin in the sixth. The Rockies did not threaten to score after the fourth.

Final Stats:

German Marquez: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 6 BB, 2 K

Mike Dunn: 0.1 IP

Chris Rusin: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Scott Oberg: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB

 

Carlos Gonzalez: 2-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR

Trevor Story: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K, HR

Nolan Arenado: 2-for-4, 1 R

 

Braves:

Brandon McCarthy: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

 

Dansby Swanson: 3-for-5, 1 R, 3 RBI

Ozzie Albies: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR

Freddie Freeman: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB

What’s Next:

The Rockies will play their second home game of the season on Saturday. Chad Bettis is scheduled to take on Anibal Sanchez. First pitch at 6:10 Mountain Time.