Rockies split with Marlins in wild doubleheader

The Rockies and Marlins scored a whole lot of runs on Tuesday in their doubleheader. The first game wasn’t a whole lot of fun, while the second game was much more so.

Game 1: Marlins 14, Rockies 1: Yikes, outhit 21-3

Cron Zone breaks up no-hitter

Through five innings, in his 2022 MLB debut and only his eighth MLB career start, Edward Cabrera had blanked the Rockies. Despite four walks and two HBP, Cabrera struck out nine Rockies in the first five innings with multiple 98.6 mph pitches and a nice changeup that averaged 93.6 mph to balance it out. Finally, after Soler hit Yonathan Daza in the left elbow with a 98.3-mph fastball to lead off the sixth, C.J. Cron punched a line drive to left to end the no-hit bid. (Daza later left the game and Bud Black said he wouldn’t play in game two in order to start treatment because it was sore.) The Rockies then proceeded to do nothing with their baserunners. With runners on first and second, Ryan McMahon and Conner Joe both flew out. Brendan Rodgers followed with a walk to load the bases. Sam Hilliard then flew out to left field to leave them loaded. The inning was it for Cabrera, who gave up one hit and issued six free passes, but no runs with nine strikeouts, including 17 swings and misses, in six innings of work.

Bullpen blues

It’s not like things were going well before the bullpen took over, as they were handed a 5-0 deficit and a runner on third, but the Rockies relievers did a remarkable job of making things even worse. Jhoulys Chacín took the first round, entering after Antonio Senzatela left with one out in the sixth, and giving up back-to-back doubles. He ended up giving up three runs, one of which was credited to Senzatela, on three hits with one strikeout. The game then spiraled out of control in the seventh inning when Chad Smith came in. Smith, who had a scoreless inning MLB debut on Monday, struggled with control and surrendered six runs on five hits with two walks and an HBP. The inning also included a failed diving catch by Sam Hilliard that resulted in a two-run double, a great diving stop by McMahon that was still an infield single, and an error by Smith when he went to get a weak grounder, slipped, threw from the ground, which led to a Bryan De La Cruz collision with Cron’s glove hand. (Cron later left the game to be replaced by Brian Serven at first, but it was unknown if it was because of the injury or the score.)

Maybe Grichuk is the answer?

With the game out of reach and amid a doubleheader, Randal Grichuk took the mound in the ninth inning. Following the trend of position player pitchers to save arms, Grichuk was outstanding. He pitched a quick 1-2-3 inning by inducing two ground balls and a pop-up. All were handled by Rodgers. His fastest pitch came in at 76.8 mph and the slowest was 58 mph and he got one swinging miss.

On the bright side for the bullpen, if there is one, Carlos Estévez threw a scoreless, hitless, drama-free eighth inning.

Senzatela hit hard and often

The good news is that Antonio Senzatela is healthy and back on the roster. The bad news is that the Marlins were all over him. In the first four innings, Senzatela, making his return from the IL after a lower back strain, gave up at least two hits per inning. However, through three innings, he only gave up one run thanks to a double play and a great catch by Hilliard to calmly and smoothly rob Jorge Soler of a home run.

Unfortunately, Jazz Chisholm Jr. blasted a 404-foot, three-run homer that was not in reach for Joe in right field in the next inning to put the Marlins up 4-0.

Senzatela had his best and only three-up, three-down inning in the fifth before giving up a double and a sac fly in the sixth and being pulled from the game. His final line: 5 ¹⁄₃ innings, six runs on 13 hits, including one homer and two doubles, with three strikeouts and no walks.

Streaks and trends

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Rodgers was able to bump up his hitting streak to 18 games with a double.

He then came around to score the only Rockies run when Iglesias got the third and final hit for Colorado in the game. Joe was able to extend his streak of reaching base to 27 straight games when he walked in the second inning. On the flip side, Hilliard and McMahon finished the game with three strikeouts apiece. The Marlins outhit the Rockies 21-3 and out-struck out the Rockies 12-5.

★ ★ ★

Game 2: Rodgers’ unbelievable game walks off Marlins

Márquez’s struggles continue

Even while he was backed by a strong offense, Germán Márquez labored through his start and was hit hard throughout. He allowed seven runs - six earned - in his five innings, walking three and striking out three. The righty gave up three home runs, and seemed to be fighting from underneath in just about every at-bat. Opponents continue to hit his fastball hard, such as Jesús Sánchez’s 460-foot blast in the top of the fourth that tied the game at five.

Márquez continues to search for answers while his ERA climbs ever higher, currently sitting at 6.71 after Tuesday’s outing.

Offensive outburst - like, a lot

If I were to touch on every bit of offense from this game, we’d be here all night. There were some definite highlights though, the first of which was a second inning home run from Brendan Rodgers to open the scoring.

After the Rockies scored two in that inning, the Marlins came right back and dropped three in the top of the third. Down 3-2, Colorado would strike back with three runs of their own in the bottom of that frame, all by way of Ryan McMahon’s second triple of the season, which unloaded the bases (which had been filled by way of two walks and a single).

Just a couple innings later, and with the Marlins yet again on top (now sitting on a 7-5 lead), Brendan Rodgers came up to bat against reliever Louis Head. He then sent his second homer of the game out into the left field stands to put things at 7-6. Colorado would record six hits in that inning alone, taking a 10-6 lead into the sixth.

A very rough sixth

Robert Stephenson recorded the first two outs of the sixth inning without issue, but things escalated from there. Jon Berti singled and stole second before Nick Fortes and Jorge Soler walked. Jesús Aguilar then grounded to third base, but Ryan McMahon’s errand throw couldn’t be handled by C.J. Cron, which scored two runs. Lucas Gilbreath then entered and immediately allowed a two-run single to pinch-hitter Avisaíl García, giving the Marlins the lead yet again at 11-10.

The Rockies would get back a run in the bottom of that sixth inning, and after scoreless frames from Tyler Kinley and Daniel Bard, we went to extra innings tied at 11...

13 is lucky

Bard stayed in to pitch the top of the tenth inning. His appearance in the inning prior was scary, as he had walked the first two batters before getting out of trouble, but he started off by getting Fortes to fly out for the first out. Walks to Soler and Jazz Chisholm Jr loaded the bases for García, who knocked in the Marlins’ dozenth run by way of a sacrifice fly. Bard recorded the third out, but the Rockies would need some late magic to survive.

Who else but Brendan Rodgers?

Rodgers jumped on a 3-2 changeup from Miami reliever Cole Sulser, sending the ball just over the left field wall to score the 12th and 13th run and send what few fans still at the game home happy. The second baseman’s first multi-homer game includes his first walkoff home run, and on a day that started so poorly for the Rockies, this one felt especially good.

Streaking!

The Rockies saw some notable streaks continue on Tuesday. Rodgers’ first homer extended his hitting streak to 19 games, a franchise record for a second baseman. José Iglesias has a 12-gamer. Connor Joe, meanwhile, has reached base in 28 straight contests. On the pitching side of things, Tyler Kinley has not walked a better since April 28th.

Up Next

Colorado will now play host to the Atlanta Braves for a four-game series starting on Thursday evening. Austin Gomber (2-5, 5.51 ERA) will be on the mound for the Rockies and RHP Ian Anderson (3-3, 4.34 ERA) will get the start for Atlanta.

First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. MDT. See you then!