DENVER -- Germán Márquez isn’t quite there yet. But he’s closer.

The Rockies’ ace right-hander tossed a complete game in the Rockies’ 7-2 win over the Mets in Game 2 of their seven-inning doubleheader at Coors Field on Saturday night. It was his best outing yet in what had so far been an uneven start to the 2021 season, and it helped snap Colorado's seven-game losing streak.

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“I’ve been working hard on my delivery with pitching coach [Steve Foster],” Márquez said. “I feel a little better -- it wasn’t [my best], but I feel a little better than the past three outings. My fastball command was good, and I feel like the slider was good today.”

Márquez gave up two runs on two hits, walking two and striking out six on 87 pitches. He cruised through three perfect innings before getting into some trouble in the fourth, when a Brandon Nimmo single, a Francisco Lindor walk and a Jeff McNeil two-run double got New York to within a run at 3-2.

But Márquez got plenty of help from his lineup, after it had been flummoxed by Mets ace Jacob deGrom in a 4-3 Game 1 loss, as it delivered four extra-base hits -- doubles by Garrett Hampson, C.J. Cron and Yonathan Daza, as well as a three-run homer by Josh Fuentes, his second home run of the season.

Márquez had a little inspiration before his start -- in Game 1, deGrom tied a career high with 14 strikeouts in six innings, at one point fanning nine straight Rockies batters to come within one of Tom Seaver’s MLB record.

“deGrom is the best in the business,” Márquez said

Márquez has shown how dominant he can be at various points in his young career. On Sept. 26, 2018, he tied a Major League record by striking out the first eight batters of the game in an 11-strikeout performance against the Phillies. He has taken multiple no-hitters late into games, including a one-hit shutout at San Francisco on April 14, 2019.

The week before that gem, the Rockies signed Márquez to a six-year, $43 million contract extension, signaling how much the franchise believes in him. His stuff, when on, is electric, and he can be as dominant as anyone. He got a little closer to regaining that form Saturday night.

“There was good use of the fastball tonight, the slider came into play with a few guys, but overall, it was a pretty heavy fastball attack,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “I thought he got the ball down well, I thought he moved it in and out, he got some ground balls tonight. Sometimes, when it’s a little chilly, Germán has trouble with the slider, but I thought he threw some good ones to [Pete] Alonso tonight, I thought he threw some good ones to [Kevin] Pillar, so he was in command.”

Márquez’s complete game capped a day of strong starting pitching for Colorado, something the club has seen in stints early this season -- Chi Chi González tossed five strong innings and yielded only one run in Game 1.

If there’s one strength on this Rockies team, it’s the starting pitching, featuring Márquez, Kyle Freeland (when he’s healthy), Jon Gray, Antonio Senzatela and Austin Gomber, who was impressive in his last outing against the Dodgers.

“Moving forward, the starting rotation is going to give us a chance to win,” Black said. “We’ve been in every game so far this season, all 15 games, except for the [Trevor] Bauer game here when [the Dodgers] got a big lead, 8-0 … We’ve fought to stay close. Our starters, even though there have been some poor outings, hung in there and didn’t give up a big number of runs. It was good to see Chi Chi match deGrom, and I thought that Germán, obviously, did his part tonight.”

Márquez certainly did his part Saturday night. But he’d like to do more than that. He got a glimpse of the best in the business earlier in the day, and he knows what he wants.

“Watching that guy, I tell myself I want to be like him,” Márquez said. “I’m going to keep working to be at that level.”