Colorado Rockies game no. 124 thread: Dane Dunning vs Germán Márquez

The Colorado Rockies are rested after a needed day off on Monday. Now they welcome the Texas Rangers to Coors for a quick two-game series, the first of which will pit two right-handers having solid Augusts against each other.

Dane Dunning (3-6, 4.06 ERA) has looked very good this month, Three of his last four starts have been quality, and he seems to be turning things around after a tough July.

The 27-year-old right-hander utilizes a four-pitch mix to generate weak contact, such as his 10 groundball outs in his most recent appearance, That was a six-inning, two-run winning effort against the A’s, one he’ll hope to replicate against Colorado.

Dunning has faced the Rockies only once - June of 2021, wherein he allowed two runs in 4 ²⁄₃ innings in an eventual 3-2 Rockies walk-off win in extra innings.

Dunning was out-dueled in that game by, of course, Germán Márquez (6-10, 5.05 ERA). Márquez threw seven one-run innings in that game, though did not collect the win as the lead was lost late and the Rockies won in extras.

The right-hander has been on a roll as of late, throwing quality starts in six of his last seven outings. Colorado fans would love nothing more than to see Márquez finish out the season strong after a rough first half.

Including that past contest, he’s faced the Rangers four times and taken the loss in three of them, though he owns a fairly-low ERA of 2.92 against Texas. They’ve all been pretty low-scoring games - let’s see if the lineup can back him up on Tuesday.

For just the second game ever, Ryan McMahon will be atop the lineup. He went 2-for-5 with an RBI in Sunday’s loss, and will hope to be similarly effective in his second attempt as the leadoff man.

Elías Díaz is also back in the lineup after not playing since August 10th due to a wrist injury. July was easily his hottest month of the 2022 season offensively, so we’ll see if he’s able to replicate that production now that he’s returned to health.

The Rockies will also welcome back former starter Jon Gray. He’s unlikely to play in the series, but the organization will still play a tribute video prior to Tuesday’s game. Welcome the Gray Wolf back with us!

First Pitch: 6:40 PM MDT

TV: AT&T Sports Net Rocky Mountain; MLB.tv

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

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