Marquez holds court in Seattle, out pitches his idol “King Felix”
ROCKIES 7, MARINERS 1
SEATTLE» Growing up in San Felix, Venezuela, German Marquez idolized “King Felix” Hernandez, the Mariners’ alltime leader in wins and strikeouts. For Marquez, the thought of facing off against the Venezuelan baseball legend in a bigleague game was a bit daunting.
Sensing that, Rockies manager Bud Black had some words of wisdom for Marquez: “This is your stage, too.”
Indeed it was. Marquez, 23, outdueled Hernandez Friday night in Colorado’s 71 win over Seattle at Safeco Field. It was the resurgent Rockies’ seventh victory in their last eight games. The Mariners entered the game having won nine of their last 10.
Marquez pitched six innings, striking out five and walking none. The lone blemish came on Denard Span’s home run to right field in the sixth. Marquez improved to 78 and reduced his road ERA to 2.62, fourthbest in the National League. Marquez’s telling moment came in the Mariners’ fourth inning. Backtoback singles by Jean Segura and Span put Marquez on the ropes, but he struck out Nelson Cruz with a killer slider and did the same to Kyle Seager.
Friday night provided further evidence that Colorado’s young rotation is starting to come into its own. Over their last 10 games, Rockies starters have posted a 1.82 ERA.
Hernandez, who owns a 5.13 ERA, lasted just five innings, getting touched for three runs on eight hits and a home run.
Costarring for Colorado was catcher Tony Wolters. He wasn’t even supposed to start the game, but when Tom Murphy abruptly left Seattle to return to Denver to be with his wife, Lindsay, for the birth of their child, Wolters got the call. He responded with an RBI triple in the Rockies’ tworun second inning and added a tworun triple in a threerun sixth as Colorado pushed its lead to 60.
Wolters became the first Rockies catcher to ever hit two triples in the same game. Moreover, he became the first Rockies player to do it since Trevor Story on April 23, 2016, vs. San Francisco, and the first Rockie to do it on the road since Cory Sullivan, on April 9, 2006, at San Diego. In that memorable game, Sullivan had two triples in the top of the fifth inning.
Wolters also threw out the speedy Dee Gordon trying to steal second base in the first inning, and in the sixth, Wolters chased down a dirt ball and fed the ball to Marquez, who tagged out Gordon at home plate.
Colorado struck quickly against Hernandez, with Charlie Blackmon hitting a oneout, solo home run in the first, Blackmon’s 16th long ball of the season. Blackmon, who had been mired in a slump, is starting to heat up. In the recent threegame sweep of the Giants at Coors Field, he hit 5for12 with a homer. Friday, he batted 3for5 boosting his average to .280.