The Colorado Rockies earned a 7-4 win over the reigning world champion Chicago Cubs in Cactus League play on Saturday, while German Marquez may have earned himself a spot in the Rockies’ starting rotation with the win. Manager Bud Black wouldn’t commit to who is going to fill the fourth and fifth spots in his rotation, but Marquez’s quality outing has him looking good to earn one of the final two spots.
“We’re narrowing this down,” Black said on the field after Saturday’s win, “and we’ll see how it shakes out. But you know [Kyle] Freeland, Marquez, [Antonio] Senzatela, you know, have all thrown the ball well their last couple games.”
Marquez went six innings against a split Cubs squad that did not feature 2016 NL MVP Kris Bryant. The right-hander allowed two earned runs on five hits to earn the victory. His only runs came by way of a Jason Heyward home run in the sixth inning.
“They told me that I needed to be aggressive,” Marquez said in the locker room after earning his first win of the spring, “and today [I] was pretty aggressive.”
Marquez struck out six batters in the win, walking one. He threw 99 pitches, 55 for strikes.
Jordan Lyles allowed one run in one inning of relief of Marquez. Carlos Estevez and Jason Motte combined for a scoreless eighth and Jake McGee gave up one unearned run in the ninth to secure the win.
The Rockies open the regular season April 3 in Milwaukee.
