Germán Márquez goes four innings in first start since April 2023

Germán Márquez spent most of his 4-inning start Sunday dancing around trouble. But it was the fact that the 29-year-old longtime Colorado Rockies pitcher was back on the mound that mattered most.

Agains the New York Mets at Citi Field, Márquez made his first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year, allowing 3 earned runs, 5 hits and 4 walks over a 4-inning stint.

Staked to a 2-0 lead in the first inning via Ezequiel Tovar’s 2-run blast to center field, Márquez retired the Mets in order in the first inning, then navigated a walk and two singles to emerge unscathed from the second and third innings before trouble struck in the fourth inning.

First, after allowing a Francisco Alvarez leadoff single, Mets first baseman Pete Alonso turned on a 93-MPH sinker and blasted it into left field to tie the score at 2-2. Two subsequent walks and a single — interspersed with a pair of fly-ball outs — loaded the bases, from which Márquez missed low and outside on a 3-2 slider, walking home Jose Iglesias to put the Mets in front.

Four pitches later, Germán Márquez induced a ground ball to shortstop, which Tovar fielded for a force out at second base to end the inning. Márquez’s day ended there, too, with 70 pitches, including 41 strikes as the Rockies trailed, 3-2.

Michael Toglia subsequently took Márquez off the hook, depositing a 90-MPH sinker beyond the right center field fence, tying the score at 3-3. A second Toglia home run one inning later — which came three batters after Brenton Doyle uncorked a homer to center field — expanded the Rockies’ lead.

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