The Colorado Rockies took the first game of today’s doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins 5-1. They improved their road record to 13-5 for the season which ties them for the most road wins in the National League and the best road winning percentage in the majors. The Rockies overall record improved to 26-15, also tops in the NL after the Washington Nationals lost today.
The Rockies got the offense going early with a solo home run by Nolan Arenado that landed in the second deck of the left field stands. They added on three more runs in the third inning after the Twins walked Arenado to load the bases and Mark Reynolds came through with a two runs single. Ian Desmond drove in the third run of the inning and almost a fourth except Reynolds was cut down at the plate by an excellent throw to the plate.
The Rockies scored their final run of the game in the fourth inning when Charlie Blackmon singled in Alexi Amarista who had doubled earlier in the inning on a bloop down the left-field line. The Rockies offense stagnated from there as they did not get another hit for the rest of the game and only had one more base runner on a walk in the fifth inning by Reynolds
Germán Márquez had solid, if not spectacular, start to earn his second win of the season. He pitched five innings, giving up one earned run on four hits and two walks while striking out three. Two of the hits were infield hits that Marquez worked around.
After giving up a lead-off double in the second inning, Márquez settled down and retired the next 10 batters in a row. After Eddie Rosario hit a triple with one out in the fifth, Márquez gave up the Twins only run of the game on a sac fly. He appeared to be on track for at least six innings before a long fifth inning that included both of his walks ran up his pitch count.
After Márquez managed to get the final out in the fifth, he handed it over to the stalwart Rockies bullpen. Chris Rusin, Adam Ottavino, Mike Dunn, and, yes, Greg Holland continued the run of dominance, allowing just four hits over the final four innings with a walk and three strikeouts. It looked like Greg Holland would get a game off until Dunn, who started the ninth inning, allowed a walk and a single to turn it into a save situation for Holland. He promptly threw four pitches—just like he did on Tuesday—and got Brian Dozier to strike out swinging to end the game.