The Rockies lost 15-12. They can’t all be wins but it could’ve been a lot worse.
Germán Márquez, making his first start of the season in a game delayed 66 minutes by rain, allowed two runs in the first inning. They came courtesy of Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy. The Rockies were down 2-0 before they had a chance to hit. Márquez began the second inning well, getting Jayson Werth and Matt Wieters to ground out. But then he walked pitcher Joe Ross, and that opened up an opportunity for the Nationals. Adam Eaton followed that up with a single, and then Trea Turner doubled both of them home. After walks to Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman to load the bases, Daniel Murphy tripled all three runners home to make it 7-0.
Márquez later gave up another run in the fourth inning. While he displayed good stuff despite bad weather against a good lineup, and threw 51 of 85 pitches for strikes, he finished with a rough line: four innings pitched, nine hits, eight runs, three walks, and just two strikeouts.
Despite a seven run deficit, the Rockies kept it competitive for awhile. Carlos González hit a solo home run in the second inning, and the Rockies added runs in the third and fourth inning as well. The Rockies added two more runs in the fifth inning to make it 8-5—but then the Nationals added a couple in the sixth to make it a five run game again. They had their second five-run inning in the seventh, capped by Trea Turner’s triple to turn it into a 15-5 laugher. With the three bagger, Turner hit for the cycle, which is the third in Nationals history and the second cycle yielded by the Rockies this year.
Though the game looked bleak, give the Rockies some kudos for still not completely rolling over. They tagged on two runs in the seventh and another four runs in the eighth. Pat Valaika and Alexi Amarista, who came into the game to give Nolan Arenado and CarGo the rest of the night off in the blowout, contributed doubles to the cause. Blackmon hit a two-run home run in the eighth, because he likes it when his walkup song gets replayed during his trot. Parra added a solo shot of his own in the ninth, turning this game into a save situation.
And for added fun, at one point in the game, the Rockies had a catcher (Tony Wolters) playing third base, a third baseman (Valaika) playing left field, and a left fielder (Gerardo Parra) playing first base.
The Nationals and Rockies will do it again tomorrow at the same time, 6:40 MT. Tyler Chatwood will face Tanner Roark.