Rockies squander triple play, 3-0 lead; match worst 8-game start in club history

DENVER — Rockies Report, Game 8:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: Colorado matched its worst eight-game start in club history and dropped its sixth game in a row, falling 7-4 to the Athletics in front of an announced 27,599 at Coors Field on Saturday night.

Not even the Rockies’ first triple play in nearly 10 years could prevent yet another defeat, as the team once again struggled to cash in with runners in scoring position, going 1-for-8 after a 1-for-15 performance Friday.

STARTER’S REPORT: Aided by some magnificent defense, Germán Márquez faced the minimum through the first three innings in his first Coors Field start since April 10, 2023.

But matters devolved from that point forward, and by the sixth inning, Bud Black relieved him after he walked two A’s and allowed an RBI double without recording an out.

Márquez finished his 89-pitch evening with six walks, tied with two other games for the most of his career. Five of them came after the third inning, and the cold conditions — it was 41°F at first pitch — affected him.

“After the third inning, I couldn’t feel the ball,” Márquez said. “The ball was cold, and I couldn’t feel the ball. I felt like my delivery was good, and I wasn’t missing that far. It is what it is.”

One of the two other six-walk games for Márquez was the 2018 home opener against Atlanta when the game-time temperature was a frosty 27°F — the coldest home opener in team history. Márquez’s other six-walk game also came early in a season, in his opening 2021 start, but the first-pitch temperature was 70°F.

Márquez drops to 0-1 on the season.

Jimmy Herget relieved Márquez and allowed the inherited runners to score when he conceded a double to Jacob Wilson, who flared his third pitch just inside the left-field line. But Herget settled down and escaped the frame with no further damage, giving him his third appearance this season without being credited with an earned run.

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers crushed Scott Alexander offerings over the center-field fence in the seventh inning. Rooker’s solo shot and Langeliers’ 2-run blast extended the Athletics’ lead to 7-3, which proved to be too much for Colorado to overcome.

“High sinkers,” Black said. “They [Rooker and Langeliers] took advantage of mistakes.”

ROCKIES NUMBER TO NOTE: .098 — The team’s average with runners in scoring position over the last five games. “The run-batted-in column is not where it needs to be. Again, it’ll get there eventually, but early in the year it’s magnified,” Black said.

NOTABLE: Kris Bryant went 1-for-4 in his return to the lineup, delivering a seeing-eye eighth-inning single that snuck past Max Schuemann and Jacob Wilson … Ryan McMahon hit his first home run of the season, a 400-foot solo shot to left field in the eighth inning … Sean Bouchard started in right field and had a 2-run second-inning home run that put the Rockies in front early … Second baseman Kyle Farmer had his second-straight two-hit game and is hitting .455.

ROCKIES UNIFORM: Black hat with black bill, white jersey and white pinstriped pants. The Rockies are 0-2 in this look.

WHAT’S NEXT: 2023 first-round choice Chase Dollander makes his major-league debut Sunday in the series finale against the Athletics. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. MDT.