The Rockies took two of three from the Cubs to get to a 48-61 record on the season. Now they welcome the Marlins, who have almost the same record at 47-62. Who will have the better record after the weekend?
Germán Márquez (9-8, 3.58 ERA) starts for the Rockies, who are winners of four of their last six games. The right-hander, like others on Colorado’s staff, has pitched more effectively at home than on the road, which bodes well against a fairly weak Miami offense. Ranking second-to-last in the NL in slugging and OPS and last in OBP, the Fish have had struggles scoring runs this season, so Márquez is in a prime position to reverse his previously not-great outings against them (5.11 ERA in five appearances).
The Marlins will counter with Sandy Alcántara (6-9, 3.12 ERA). After missing some time due to a devastating personal loss, he’s continuing a very strong 2021 campaign. Just outside the top ten NL starters in ERA, the former All-Star is a force to be reckoned with. He’s pitched well versus the Rockies, owning a sterling 1.20 ERA in his two appearances, giving up a total of seven hits and four walks versus eight strikeouts in his 15 innings of work. His fairly pedestrian repertoire of fastball, slider, changeup, and curveball bely an incredibly effective starter. The Rockies will want to do whatever possible to chase him from the game early.
There isn’t a ton of matchup data for the Rockies versus Alcántara - no one has more than six at-bats. Trevor Story and Ryan McMahon are the only hitters with multiple knocks (2-for-5 and 2-for-6, respectively). For Miami, former Giant Joe Panik is hitting .263 in his 19 attempts, and beefy Jesús Aguilar is hitting .286 in his seven tries. Brian Anderson is 3-for-10, and Lewis Brinson is 1-for-6.
The Rockies have been homer-happy as of late, especially Trevor Story, who had two last night. Elías Díaz has been on a torrid run recently as well, and “Slam” Hilliard is making the most of his at-bats. Look for these players to make an impact in this series, starting tonight.
Start Time: 6:40 p.m. MDT
TV: AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (COL), Marquee Sports Network (CHC), MLB.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)
Lineups:
#Marlins lineup
— Christina De Nicola (@CDeNicola13) July 31, 2021
— Trevor Rogers back
— Lewin Díaz gets the start at 1B
— Lewis Brinson, not Brian Miller, in LF pic.twitter.com/NtAjnVkYCd
*taps mic*
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) August 6, 2021
testing, testing... is this thing on?
here is tonight's lineup!
(we will update you with any weather-related game information as it becomes available, but as of this tweet, we are still on for a 6:40 pm MT first pitch) pic.twitter.com/fuHaSyGPqQ