LOS ANGELES -- After a promising start to the season, the Rockies will look to hit the reset button Thursday in advance of their home opener against the Nationals.

Right-hander Germán Márquez delivered a strong 2023 debut last week, then gave up three home runs in the first four innings Tuesday night in a 5-2 defeat to the Dodgers to close out a two-game series at Dodger Stadium.

“I felt good, like I was making my pitches,” Márquez said. “I just made three pitches that they got to pretty good, but overall I felt good. I was hitting my spots and I want to keep doing what I’m doing."

It was a fine line for Márquez while pitching in a ballpark where he has previously delivered success. Márquez’s aggressive nature can be an asset against a lineup known for working counts and taking walks. On Tuesday, the Dodgers looked ready to pounce.

A potential pitchers’ duel with Dodgers left-hander Julio Urías fizzled early as Márquez failed to match his outing against the Padres on Thursday, when he gave up two runs in six innings to earn the win in his 2023 debut.

Adding to the prospects of a tight, low-scoring game was Márquez’s Dodger Stadium track record. He entered the game with a 3-2 record in Chavez Ravine with a 2.49 ERA in eight career starts and 50 2/3 innings.

It seemed like enough of a sample size to pronounce Márquez unfazed by the high-wattage talent the Dodgers have put on the field in the eight seasons he has been in the Major Leagues.

Instead, Will Smith, Jason Heyward and Max Muncy all hit home runs against Márquez, who had given up eight home runs at Los Angeles since 2016. Smith’s was a two-run shot in the first inning.

“A lot of times the solo home run doesn’t beat you, it’s the two- or three-run home run that gets you,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “With Germán, the fastball can get elevated and the breaking ball, as good as it is, sometimes he leaves it up. … But he’s an aggressive pitcher who throws a ton of strikes.”

Smith’s home run came on a slider, while a pair of left-handed hitters in Heyward and Muncy jumped on those elevated fastballs. Afterward, Márquez had no regrets over his approach.

“I have to pound the zone and I have to be ahead with these guys,” Márquez said. “Tonight, I just missed three pitches.”

The outing did not change Márquez’s mind that he is in a much better place in the early going this season than he was in 2022, when he went 9-13 with a 4.95 ERA over 31 starts while giving up a career-high 30 home runs in 181 2/3 innings.

“Yeah, everything for me, I feel like it is working,” he said.

Despite the sluggish offensive night against Urías, the Rockies still managed to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning after starting the frame down 5-0. If there was any lament it was in the third inning when the Rockies had the bases loaded with nobody out before Kris Bryant struck out and C.J. Cron grounded into a double play.

“It would have been nice to drive some in there, but he made a good pitch, got the ground ball and that’s what he’s trying to do” Cron said. “It was a big double play.”

Now the Rockies shift to another pitcher who had a solid season debut. Left-hander Kyle Freeland gets the ball for the home opener Thursday afternoon after giving up three hits over six innings in a victory Friday over the Padres.

Freeland’s momentum began during the World Baseball Classic with six innings of relief, including a strikeout of Team Japan’s Shohei Ohtani during his three innings of the championship game.

The first visit of the season also promises temperatures in the 70s on Saturday and Sunday, which will be a welcome respite from the cold nights in San Diego and Los Angeles.

“Isn’t that something?” Black said. “It feels like we were in Chicago or San Francisco with the wind blowing.”