Pirates narrowly avoid being no-hit, lose 8-0

Rockies’ starting pitcher German Marquez pitched marvelously tonight. He tossed a shutout. His shutout was a Maddux. If not for a Ka’ai Tom, he would have thrown a no-hitter. Unfortunately for Marquez, Tom, who was two for his last 39, ripped a single in the ninth inning to end the no-hit bid. The Rockies won comfortably by a score of 8-0.

Predictably, the Pirates’ offense was non-existent tonight. Other than Tom’s single, the only other baserunners produced came from a Jacob Stalling hit-by-pitch and Phillip Evans walk. In this game, Marquez pitched just one over the minimum. Over his past three starts, he has now tossed 23 innings of one-run ball. The Pirates have now been shutout two straight games at Coors Field and six times total in their history.

On the pitching side, things weren’t great. Chase De Jong started in this game and went five innings. He allowed five earned runs on nine hits, stuck out three, and allowed a home run to our old friend, Elias Diaz. Diaz has now homered in two straight games against the Pirates. Cody Ponce relieved De Jong in the sixth inning and finished the game. He allowed three earned runs on six hits over three innings pitched. Like De Jong, Ponce was not all that effective. In total, the Rockies tallied 15 hits. Even Marquez got in on the act offensively as he swatted two doubles. The Rockies as a team had seven extra-base hits on the night.

One positive in this game is that it lasted well under three hours. Tomorrow afternoon, the Pirates will look to salvage the series. Chad Kuhl takes the mound and will oppose Jon Gray. First pitch is at 3:05 p.m. EST.