Germán Márquez had another strong outing and the Colorado Rockies hit three home runs to beat the San Diego Padres 5-3.
Offenses get going in the third
Two runs were manufactured by the Rockies in very different ways. The first run of the game was scored when Sam Hilliard walked, stole second, and advanced to third on the Márquez groundout to put himself in position to score on a groundball to second by Charlie Blackmon. The second run of the game also came in the top of the third inning as Brendan Rodgers blasted a solo home run to centerfield.
The Padres would then answer with a double by Adam Frazier and a home run by Jake Cronenworth to tie the game at two in the bottom of the third. The bottom of the third at least gave the largest San Diego crowd I have ever seen something to cheer for as Márquez wouldn’t allow much more the rest of the night.
Two solo shots in the fifth
The battery provided the power in the top of the fifth inning as both Elías Díaz and Márquez hit solo shots. Díaz turned on a cutter and lined a bomb into the waiting glove of one of the only Rockies fans in attendance. The fan, decked in a Rockies cap and freshly purchased Márquez All-Star game jersey, let the San Diego faithful surrounding him have an earful as he celebrated catching the Díaz homer.
That fan then got to celebrate again as the man whose jersey he was wearing drove a hanging slider 418 feet and over the wall in centerfield for the third Rockies solo home run of the evening.
Márquez stays hot
With the Rockies leading 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Germán Márquez had just allowed a walk, lineout, and single to put runners on first and third. He then got a big strikeout of Tommy Phan before walking Trent Grisham on four pitches to load the bases. Bud Black then did what he does best as skipper of this Rockies team. He visited the mound, not to remove his ace pitcher, but to give him the pep talk and sign of faith that he knew Márquez could finish the inning. Márquez answered the call, striking out Jurickson Profar on three pitches, with a little help from home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez on strike three.
The sixth inning put an exclamation mark on another outstanding outing from Márquez. The Padres only threatened in the third and sixth innings and Márquez finished the day allowing two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and four walks in his six innings pitched. The walks extended his pitch count a little and he didn’t go quite as deep as he might have liked, but he did more than enough to keep his outstanding stretch of great starts going and secure the victory for the Rockies.
Up next
Austin Gomber and the Rockies will look to clinch the series win in San Diego against Chris Paddack and the Padres. First pitch is scheduled for 2:10pm MDT.
