MIAMI -- In his 16th season, Curtis Granderson is the elder statesman on a mostly youthful Marlins team. The veteran outfielder turned 38 on March 16, and he provided the lone offensive spark for the Marlins in their 6-1 loss to the Rockies on Friday night at Marlins Park.

In his first game as a Marlin, Granderson connected on a fourth-inning home run off German Márquez. The blast to right field was his first hit with his new team, and Granderson played a solid left field, making a nice play on a long Daniel Murphy liner.

"Good at-bats," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "It's what you see out of Grandy. It's professional. Getting on base. Making the guy throw strikes. Understanding what that guy can do."

The Marlins were limited to two hits, with Granderson having the big blast. Miami actually had a chance to tie it in the eighth inning when Lewis Brinson crushed a drive to center that Ian Desmond grabbed in a leaping catch at the wall, robbing a home run.

"I thought I got it," Brinson said. "Ian made a great play. He's just doing his job, like I would. If he would have hit one to me like that, I'm going to try to go up and get it for my team. It was a great play."

Brinson’s blast, per Statcast, had an exit velocity of 103.7 mph and was projected to travel 408 feet. It had an expected batting average (XBA) of .900.

Had Brinson's ball cleared the wall, the game would have been tied at 2, and momentum would have been on the Marlins' side.

"Definitely, momentum is in our favor there if that ball goes over the fence and we tie the game," Brinson said. "But it didn't. Regardless, we've got to keep fighting. That's definitely a momentum swing if that ball does go out. It didn't. It didn't go our way."

With Granderson's shot to right, there was no doubt.

Granderson didn't play in Thursday's opener because the Rockies went with left-hander Kyle Freeland. So Rosell Herrera got the Opening Day start in left field.

The plan is to use Granderson in favorable matchups. Mattingly eyes Granderson in the leadoff spot against right-handers, and with Marquez getting the start for the Rockies on Friday, the veteran outfielder was in Miami's lineup. In his first plate appearance as a Marlin, he showed why.

Granderson began his night at the plate by grinding out a full-count walk in a nine-pitch at-bat. But he was erased on the bases when he was on the move with Brian Anderson at the plate and the count full. It turned into a strike-out, throw-out double play.

"He's a table setter," Brinson said of his veteran teammate. "Getting on base. Making the pitcher throw a lot of pitches. Just getting on base for us, that's all we ask from the guy at the top of the order, to get it started. He had a big swing tonight and got us on the board early. He just had great at-bats all night."

In his next at-bat, Granderson really made his presence felt, crushing his home run to right field to lead off the fourth inning. He turned on a 93.8 mph, 3-1 fastball. The 333rd home run of Granderson's career gave the Marlins their first lead of the season, which held until the Rockies tied it in the sixth inning.

The Marlins had a chance to regain the lead in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases with two outs. Granderson again was in the middle of the action. With two outs, he drew his second walk, and advanced to second and then to third on two wild pitches from Marquez. A walk to Anderson and Neil Walker getting hit by a pitch loaded the bases. But Miami was unable to cash in, as Starlin Castro grounded out to short.

"As we get that [better approach] as a group, it's going to get better and better," Mattingly said of the offense that was limited to two hits on Friday and six in the first two games. "The quality of the at-bats. That's what takes us to the next level. Making sure the quality of the approach is going to be good."

Change of pace

Advanced metrics showed that Trevor Richards had one of the best changeups in the Majors last year. It took the 25-year-old right-hander a couple of innings to get his changeup working against the Rockies, and Richards threw a nasty one to strike out Nolan Arenado in the sixth inning.

"Early in the game, I was kind of not throwing exactly how I wanted to," Richards said. "I was able to settle in. I was able to mix pitches and keep hitters off balance."

But it was also in the sixth inning, after the Arenado strikeout, that Richards allowed his only run of the night. A two-out walk to Trevor Story (who Richards had struck out in the third) proved costly when David Dahl followed with an RBI double that skipped past first baseman Walker.

That was the only damage done off Richards, who worked six innings in the no-decision, scattering four hits while striking out four and walking two. According to Statcast, he mixed up his pitches, throwing 30 fastballs, 28 changeups (with eight swinging strikes), and 23 curveballs. Statcast tracked the curveball as a slider, but Richards says he is throwing a curve this year.

"That's how it goes sometimes," Richards said. "I felt good. I felt I was commanding the ball better as I went. On that Story [at-bat] there, I ended up missing some spots and it cost me."

He said it

"I don't think we've got it going yet. Obviously, they've got good pitching and you've got to give them some credit. But we haven't, obviously, gotten going. We're better than this. I think our guys know it. You never know quite how you're going to get out of the box, coming out of Spring Training. I feel our guys are pressing a little bit, but that will go away. I think we'll round out differently. It hasn't been great to this point. It's going to get better." -- Mattingly

Up next

After missing the final month of 2018 due to a right shoulder strain, Pablo Lopez is fully healthy. The 23-year-old gained about eight pounds of muscle in the offseason, and his fastball velocity reached 97 mph in Spring Training. Lopez gets the nod on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. ET at Marlins Park. Lefty Tyler Anderson starts for Colorado.