Blackmon makes Rox history at Yankee Stadium

NEW YORK -- Although the Rockies lost to the Yankees on Saturday afternoon, manager Bud Black saw signs of life on offense after they scored five runs in the sixth inning.

Black was looking for that to carry over into Sunday’s game, and it happened as the Rockies snapped their six-game losing streak by beating the Yankees, 8-4, at Yankee Stadium.

The hitting barrage started in the first inning when Charlie Blackmon led off the game with a home run off left-hander James Paxton.

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“That’s more like Charlie. That was a good statement by Charlie. A home run to lead off the game and he sprayed the ball around, and that’s what Charlie does,” Black said.

Blackmon ended up with four hits in the game and scored three runs. The four hits are the most by a Rockies player at Yankee Stadium (new or old) in franchise history. Blackmon joins Carlos González (2016) and Juan Pierre (2002) as the only Rockies with a four-hit game vs. the Yankees (they both did it in Colorado).

Prior to Sunday’s game, Blackmon was 1-for-9 in the series. He admitted he was a little fatigued and not seeing the ball well, but Sunday was a different story.

“I didn’t change anything drastically. I just simplified it a little bit. It was a good day,” Blackmon said.

Paxton’s problems against the Rockies continued in the third inning, when Colorado scored four runs, highlighted by David Dahl’s two-run single. An inning later, the Rockies plated a pair thanks to a two-run double by Trevor Story.

“I thought we had good at-bats against Paxton,” Black said. “As the game went on -- even though they limited us late in the game, I still thought our overall approach was good.”

It was plenty of support for right-hander Germán Márquez, who was dealing on Sunday, going seven innings while allowing two runs on three hits. It was the Rockies’ first quality start since July 14.

The last time Marquez had a quality start was June 21 against the Dodgers, when he pitched eight innings, allowed an earned run and picked up a no-decision.

Things got off to a slow start for Marquez on Sunday when he allowed a leadoff home run on his first pitch of the game to DJ LeMahieu, re-igniting the friendly rivalry between the former Rockies infielder and Blackmon.

“I wanted to punch [LeMahieu] in the face, but that’s good baseball. That’s good execution. He could have made a one-pitch out,” Blackmon joked about his best friend’s home run.

But Marquez settled in after that and held the Yankees scoreless until the fifth inning, when he gave up a solo homer to Mike Tauchman.

“I thought his breaking ball was outstanding today,” Black said. “Even the fastball got a little better as the game went on as far as location. Still, in the seventh inning, he threw a fastball 98 miles an hour, so he was still pretty fresh. He did a nice job of being efficient. He didn’t have a taxing inning. The slider and the curveball were effective.”

Said Rockies catcher Tony Wolters, “[Marquez] was controlling the whole game, controlling his body. He executed his fastball when he needed to, and he threw a decent amount of changeups. His curveball was electric today.”