The Rockies issue three bases-loaded walks in loss to the Giants

Nothing wrecks a pitcher’s day like walking too many batters. So each of the Rockies’ five pitchers in Wednesday’s 7-3 loss to the Giants were probably ready to leave the City by the Bay as soon as possible after surrendering a whopping nine walks — three of them with the bases loaded to hand the Giants a win far easier than they deserved.

German Marquez’s wobbly start to the 2021 season continued as he gave up four hits and four earned runs in four innings before being pulled for rookie reliever Ben Bowden. Marquez did strike out five Giants, but he walked three more, two of them with the bases loaded.

Yency Almonte followed Bowden and Jordan Sheffield — each of whom surrendered a walk in their sole innings of relief — and Almonte turned a brush fire into an inferno after walking three batters (one of the bases-loaded variety), allowing two hits and three earned runs in only one-third of an inning. The debacle raised Almonte’s ERA to a stratospheric 12.46 on the season, and put the game out of reach for Colorado.

Manager Bud Black, who won 34 of his 121 big-league games as a pitcher with the Giants, broke down what he’s seeing from his ace, who took the loss on Wednesday.

“He was a little quick with the left shoulder, not getting great extension that (second) inning. It looked as though his stride was a little short,” Black explained. “He was just sort of popping up, not really getting down to the mound. That created balls out of the strike zone. Fastball command left him because of that quickness. With that lack of extension, we saw three walks. We saw balls with the fastball, and balls with the slider.”

Marquez, who’s been either first or second on the Rockies in wins every season since 2017, agrees; he believes his control issues extend from a “little thing” in his delivery; one that he believes he’ll have corrected soon.

“To me, control has been bad all year. So I just have to keep working on my delivery from the stretch,” Marquez said. “I don’t want to get bad (thoughts) through my mind. I want to keep working on that, and the results will be coming out pretty soon… It’s going to come out pretty well.”

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NEXT UP: Rockies (9-15, 5th in NL West) at Diamondbacks (12-12, 4th, NL West) | Thursday, Apr. 29 at 7:40 p.m. | COL: Antonio Senzatela (1-3, 5.76 ERA) vs ARZ: Luke Weaver (1-2, 4.57 ERA).

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NOTES

• Colorado now has the worst record in the National League at 9-15 (.375) and the worst road record in all of baseball at 1-8 (.111).

• The Rockies issued three bases-loaded walks for the third time in franchise history, according to MLB.com. When German Marquez allowed two and Yency Almonte one, it was the first time that’s happened since July 31, 2008 against the Marlins, when Rockies’ all-time wins leader Jorge de la Rosa had two and reliever Kip Wells had the other.

• Elias Diaz came into Wednesday’s game on a 1-for-18 (.052) streak at the plate. After going 1-for-3 with one of the Rockies’ two RBI, Diaz is still batting only .114 (4-for-35) on the season.

• The Rockies scattered their seven hits (five singles and two doubles) throughout their lineup; every starter had one hit save shortstop Trevor Story and pitcher German Marquez.

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THE FINAL WORD

“He did put up three zeros, (but) he threw 90 pitches in four innings. It wasn’t, by German’s standards, a good game… but he’ll be ready for his next start.” — Manager Bud Black, on starting pitcher German Marquez, who fell to 1-2 with a 4.13 ERA own the season.

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STARTING LINEUP

CF Garrett Hampson
2B Ryan McMahon
SS Trevor Story
1B C.J. Cron
RF Charlie Blackmon
LF Yonathan Daza
3B Josh Fuentes
C Elias Diaz
SP German Marquez

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INJURY WATCH

• Kyle Freeland (strained left shoulder) was placed on the 10-day IL on Apr. 1. He has been throwing bullpen sessions and is expected back in early May.
• Brendan Rodgers (strained right hamstring) was placed on the 10-day IL on Apr. 1. He has been practicing and could potentially return before the end of April.
• Chris Owings (left thumb surgery) was placed on the 60-day IL in mid-April and will likely be out until the All-Star break.
• Scott Oberg (blood clots) had surgery prior to the end of Spring Training. He was placed on the 60-day IL on Mar. 27 and his season is in doubt.

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Shawn Drotar is the host of “The Fan Late Night with Shawn Drotar;” weeknights from 10:00 p.m. to midnight — only on 104.3 The Fan. Follow him on Twitter at @sdrotar.

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