The Colorado Rockies had already lost the series – their first road series loss in 2017. They were not about to be swept – and not by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Colorado got contributions from some unlikely characters and left PNC Park with a hard-fought (almost literally) 5-1 victory that put an end to a 14-game stretch in which they played just two home games.
German Marquez (5-3, 4.19) battled, in many ways, through five-plus innings to earn his fifth win of the year. Marquez was hit in the hand on a bunt attempt in the fifth inning. Then, both benches cleared (although no punches were thrown) when Marquez hit Francisco Cervelli with a pitch in the bottom half of the inning. Marquez allowed one run on four hits in the win. Chris Rusin allowed Marquez’s one run to score in the sixth after the rookie allowed back-to-back hits to open the inning. Rusin limited the damage there, however. Adam Ottavino worked into some trouble in the seventh, allowing a hit, a hit batter and a walk to load the bases, before Jake McGee came in and slammed the door. McGee worked the eighth and Greg Holland posted a clean ninth to lock down the victory.
Raimel Tapia proved that his .359 average at Triple-A this year is no fluke. Tapia went 4-for-4 on Wednesday and scored three of Colorado’s five runs in the game. Tapia started in place of Carlos Gonzalez, who does not have a base hit in his last 24 at-bats. Trevor Story was 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Alexi Amarista had a clutch pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh inning.
Despite the win, Colorado is behind the Dodgers in the NL West. At 42-26, the Rockies trail the 41-25 Dodgers by a mere .003 percentage points. Colorado will try and reclaim the lead in the division with a four-game home series against San Francisco. The Rockies are 6-1 so far against the Giants this year. Jeff Hoffman (4-0, 2.33) will start for Colorado against Matt Moore (2-7, 5.28)
