Right on the Mar-quez: German thwarts Bucs

PITTSBURGH -- German Marquez exercised his prerogative as the Rockies’ starting pitcher Tuesday night by choosing a black sleeveless jersey that hasn’t been seen since April 1. Then he spent eight scoreless innings making sure it looked really good.

Marquez struck out seven, yielded just three hits and went eight scoreless innings as Colorado ended its losing streak at four games, winning 5-0 at PNC Park.

• Box score

“Sometimes we have to make changes,” Marquez said, referring to his sartorial choice and his turnaround performance.

The result improved the Rockies to just 2-4 on a frustrating road trip, with three losses coming by one run and another by two. But on Tuesday, Marquez at one point retired 10 straight and thoroughly flummoxed the Pirates’ offense.

“We always try to get out of that slump … especially today,” Marquez said. “I always go out there and try to do my best to compete.”

The last time the Rockies were reeling, Marquez held the Giants hitless for 7 1/3 innings on April 14, completing a one-hit masterpiece at AT&T Park. That game started a season-high five-game win streak, which rolled into wins in 10 out of 12.

“Every pitcher, regardless of the game, knows what’s at stake,” Colorado manager Bud Black said. “Our guys are aware, because we talk about it. We talk about the importance and the responsibility that they have every night, what they mean to the team. And their, for lack of a better word, performance sort of dictates how this game is going to go.

“How he pitched tonight, for me, dictated that we were going to win the game, because he was outstanding.”

The offense got three crucial hits: A solo homer from Trevor Story in the third -- the 99th of his career -- a two-run triple from Charlie Blackmon in the fourth and Marquez’s own RBI single in the eighth. Marquez, who won the National League’s Silver Slugger Award as the top offensive pitcher in 2018, already has more RBIs this year (six) than last year (five).

PNC was the perfect place to help the Rockies regain their footing. In three career starts at the park, Marquez is 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA.

This time, Marquez began by leaning on his fastball-changeup combination. It took until the third inning for him to make the right adjustment so that he could gain his breaking pitches, especially his curveball.

“I had to slow down my mechanics,” said Marquez, whose only bad mark was a big bruise on his inner left thigh, courtesy of Cole Tucker’s eighth-inning liner. “My curveball, I felt like it was a little hard, like 85-87 mph and my slider is 86-89. I needed my curveball 81-83.”

Moments, notable and odd

• Blackmon has hit safely in 26 of his last 28 games, during which he's hit .347 (43-for-124) with 10 doubles, four triples, 10 homers and 25 RBIs. After a slow start, he’s on a 16-game on-base streak (the longest active run in the NL) and showing the hard contact that he exhibited in 2017 when he led the NL with a .331 average and drove in 104 runs.

“The opposite-field home run [Sunday] in Philadelphia leading off the game,” Black said. “The [triple] in the gap today; base hits to right, line drives, using the field, two-strike approach, putting the ball in play. So he’s in a good spot.”

• Colorado's first run scored in the second, when Daniel Murphy -- whose double ended a personal run of five games without an extra-base hit -- enticed a rundown between third and home on Tony Wolters’ grounder. Pittsburgh catcher Francisco Cervelli’s throw hit Murphy in the front of his batting helmet, and the ball bounced far enough away that Murphy was able to score.

• Left fielder David Dahl delivered the team’s first five-star defensive play of the season -- a fourth-inning catch on a Bryan Reynolds line drive that required him to cover 51 feet in just 3.3 seconds.

According to Statcast, Reynolds’ line drive had a .580 expected batting average.

• In the eighth, Marquez picked up a slow roller from Jake Elmore on the first-base line and tried to make a tag. Elmore was called out, and although replays indicated Marquez grabbed Elmore’s jersey with his right hand but never tagged him with the ball that was in his glove (left) hand, the call stood. Bucs manager Clint Hurdle quickly earned an ejection for arguing a review, which isn’t allowed.