ROOKIE MARQUEZ DISPLAYING SOME VETERAN POISE
» German Marquez KANSAS CITY, MO. is a 22-year-old rookie with just 25 big-league starts on his baseball card. But he’s pitching with the poise of a weathered veteran.
Marquez pitched six innings and allowed two runs on eight hits in the Rockies’ 3-2 win over Kansas City on Thursday afternoon.
That might not sound particularly impressive, but consider that the right-hander gave up a solo homer to Whit Merrifield in the first inning and another solo homer to Brandon Moss in the second.
Rather than crumble, Marquez pitched better, blanking the Royals for the next four innings.
“At the beginning of the game, I got hit a little bit, but then I slowed things down,” said Marquez, who has recorded seven quality starts in his last nine outings, going 5-1 with a 3.88 ERA over that stretch. “I was a little bit up on those pitches, but I got better.”
Manager Bud Black continues to be impressed by his rookie.
“After the first two home runs, German put up four zeroes, and that was huge,” Black said. “You know what Catfish Hunter said: Solo homers don’t beat you. Today, they didn’t.”
Dunn right.
Lefty reliever Mike Dunn gave up a leadoff single to Melky Cabrera in the eighth inning but then struck out Eric Hosmer, Jorge Bonifacio and Moss to clean up the inning and set up closer Greg Holland’s save.
It was the latest example of Dunn returning to the form he flashed in the first month of the season.
“I think the slider has really been effective,” Black said. “That slider, more than anything, has really come back to where it was earlier in the year. And I think the fastball command is better, too. And he’s getting himself in better pitcher’s counts. When you do that, you should have success.”
Dunn has held opponents scoreless in 19 of his last 21 appearances, with a 2.12 ERA.
Anderson’s return.
Left-hander Tyler Anderson is scheduled to pitch in another simulated game Friday or Saturday before being sent out for a minor-league rehab stint.
Anderson is coming back from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He pitched three innings Wednesday in his first simulated game.
“I feel really good, really strong,” Anderson said. “I expected to be sore today and I wasn’t.”
Footnotes.
It doesn’t appear that veteran, power-hitting first baseman Ryan Howard will get a call-up from Triple-A Albuquerque in September. He signed a minor-league deal with the Rockies earlier this month but has suffered a knee injury. He’s hitting .192 (3-for-26) with no homers in seven games at Triple-A Albuquerque. … Raimel Tapia snapped a 1-for-22 skid at the plate with two hits Thursday, including an RBI single in the sixth. … Colorado won at Kansas City for the first time since May 23, 2010. … Nolan Arenado’s two singles extended his hitting streak to nine games, during which he has batted .344 with eight extra-base hits and eight RBIs.