The Pirates beat the Rockies 4-3 Wednesday afternoon at Coors Field. Th Rox played well overall, but they missed some chances and had some unlucky breaks. The Pirates took the series with the win, and the Rockies’ season record falls to 60-54.
A young starter’s start
German Márquez had a funky start that’s also a sign of a pitcher in the maturation process. He gave up ten hits, but he also struck out ten batters. And all the while only three runners crossed home while Márquez was on the mound. He lost the trust of his fastball at times, and that slowed his pace and allowed the the Pirates to exert patience and square up a lot of his pitches.
While the start was funky, one of the innings was immaculate. In the top of the fourth, Márquez struck out Corey Dickerson, Starling Marte, and Gregory Polanco on nine pitches. That was the second immaculate inning in Rockies history. Rex Brothers did it against the Giants in 2014.
Young hitters hit
The Rockies offense came from their young players. David Dahl got the Rockies on the board in the fourth inning with a monster two-run home run.
Dahl delivers a 2-run jack!#BetterCallDahl pic.twitter.com/HPptSFE4bg
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) August 8, 2018
The Rockies’ other run came during an eighth inning rally, when Ryan McMahon singled to drive in Nolan Arenado and put the tying run on third. Yeah, guys like Dahl and McMahon should really be playing more.
Unfortunately, the Rockies couldn’t get that runner on third home. Ian Desmond struck out for the second out of the inning, and Chris Iannetta hit a bullet to second base, but Adam Frazier made a great diving play to make the third out of the inning and keep the game 4-3.
What’s next
The Rockies begin an important four-game series against the first place Dodgers at home tomorrow. Tyler Anderson and Ross Stripling will face-off in game-one, which is scheduled to start at 6:40 MT