Marquez narrowly misses no-no in brilliant, one-hit shutout

German Marquez has been dealing for a while now — in six of his seven starts prior to Tuesday, Marquez has allowed one or fewer earned runs — but on Tuesday against the Pirates, he narrowly missed pitching the best game in Rockies history.

Marquez took a no-hitter against the visiting Pirates into the ninth inning, where light-hitting left fielder Ka’ai Tom broke it up with a single to right. Tom was erased on a double play only one batter later, and Marquez finished the complete-game shutout facing only 28 batters and throwing only 92 pitches.

“There were a lot of things going through my mind; I was excited. In my mind, I knew that I just had to calm down and make my pitches,” Marquez told MLB Network. “It was just one pitch that I missed, and that’s it.”

Marquez’s 92-pitch shutout was the first of its kind in all of Major League Baseball since August of 2019, and the run he’s on is historic — the Elias Sports Bureau noted that over his last three starts, Marquez has pitched 23 innings and allowed one run on four hits, joining Johnny Vander Meer (who pitched the only back-to-back no-hitters in history in 1938) and Hall-of-Famer Rube Marquard (1911) as the only pitchers since 1893 to produce those numbers or better over a three-start span.

Now 7-6 on a team that’s 14 games below .500, Marquez hopes his performance this season and his dazzling, recent play provides him with the opportunity to represent the Rockies at next month’s All-Star Game at Coors Field.

“I just want to go to the All-Star Game,” he said. “I feel I can be there, but I just have to wait.”

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NEXT UP: Rockies (33-47, 4th in NL West) vs. Pirates (29-49, 5th in NL Central) | Wednesday, Jun. 30 at 1:10 p.m. | COL: Jon Gray (4-6, 3.97 ERA) vs. PIT: Chad Kuhl (2-4, 5.05 ERA)

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NOTES

• Kyle Freeland, who left Monday’s game with a hamstring injury, reported no inflammation in the area on Tuesday. He’s expected to throw a bullpen session prior to his next scheduled start, but there’’s hope that he’ll make his next scheduled start against the Cardinals on June 3.

• Trevor Story went 2-for-4 with a double and a pair of RBIs to lead the Rockies. Story’s 700th career hit on Tuesday puts him in 15th place on the team’s all-time list. Next up is Brad Hawpe with 749, but it’s unlikely that Story can pass that by the trade deadline. A free agent after the season, Story is widely expected to be dealt before he could depart Colorado as one of the most desirable players available at a premium position.

• The Rockies have shut the Pirates out in back-to-back games; the first time that Colorado has done that since Jun. 19-20 of 2006, when Byung-Hyun Kim and Jason Jennings earned wins over the A’s at Coors Field. Neither of those were complete games, however, and the Rockies have never pitched three consecutive shutouts.

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THE FINAL WORD

“I’ll have it pretty soon. Next year? In a couple years? But I think I’ll have it.” — German Marquez, on his near no-hitter against the Pirates

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STARTING LINEUP

LF Raimel Tapia
CF Yonathan Daza
RF Charlie Blackmon
SS Trevor Story
3B Ryan McMahon
2B Garrett Hampson
1B Joshua Fuentes
C Elias Diaz
SP German Marquez

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INJURY WATCH

• Kyle Freeland (right hamstring cramp) left his Jun. 28 start. It’s hoped that he can make his next scheduled start.
• Austin Gomber (left forearm tightness) was placed on the 10-day IL after leaving his Jun. 19 start. He played catch on Jun. 28 in an effort to build toward throwing bullpen sessions, meaning that he likely won’t return until mid-July.
• Robert Stephenson (strained upper back) was placed on the 10-day IL on Jun. 28.
• Matt Adams (right elbow soreness) was injured during the Jun. 8 game and was placed on the 10-day IL on Jun. 9. He started taking batting practice on Jun. 26 and may be sent on a minor-league rehab assignment soon.
• Mychal Givens (strained lower back) was placed on the 10-day IL on Jun. 17. He’s expected to return in early July.
• Jordan Sheffield (torn right lat) was injured on Jun. 3 and was placed on the 10-day IL. He is expected to miss at least two months.
• 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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