Rox offense remains MIA in MIA

The Colorado Rockies returned from a brief respite from the Miami House of Horrors to plunge knee-deep once more into the darkness. A 4-1 loss to the Marlins saw the Rockies get only one hit of consequence and give away a couple of unearned runs to boot.

Starting pitcher German Marquez was mostly pretty good, though he wasn’t his sharpest self. A couple of walks and a single loaded the bases against him in the first but Martin Prado was barely able to beat out a double play attempt to get the first run of the game.

The Marlins managed to add in the fourth when Miguel Rojas reached on a Trevor Story error, Lewis Brinson walked and Derek Dietrich and J.T. Realmuto came through with RBI singles. Neither run was earned.

Charlie Blackmon got the Rockies on the board in the sixth with a lead-off solo home run, and it looked like Colorado would keep the rally going when Ian Desmond followed up with a double. But Nolan Arenado took an uncharacteristically bad clutch at-bat, swinging at a first pitch in on his hands to pop out to short.

Story followed with a single to left but Desmond had to see it down and could not score. Chris Iannetta struck out and Gerardo Parra lined out to leave a pair of runners stranded and the game’s score at 3-1.

The Marlins got an insurance run in the seventh when Dietrich hit his third homer of the season off of Mike Dunn.

These are the kinds of game that have become all too familiar for the Rockies in their history in Miami and it’s difficult to tell what to do with this one other than to put it in the books and move on.

The Colorado Rockies have not won two games in a row in Miami since they moved into their new ballpark, and that will remain true again this season.

Final Stats:

German Marquez: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

Mike Dunn: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Brooks Pounders: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K

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

Ian Desmond: 1-for-2

What’s Next:

Colorado will play yet another rubber match on Sunday. Chad Bettis goes against lefty Caleb Smith. First pitch at 11:10 Mountain Time.