Starting pitching was not a strength for the Colorado Rockies in the first two months of the season. Last year’s ace, Kyle Freeland, struggled and was demoted to the minors to iron out his issues. Tyler Anderson was ineffective until he was put on the injured list and will likely miss the rest of the season.
The only steadying arm for Colorado was German Marquez, and the right-hander has been the anchor for a staff that found some traction as May turned into June. He was 3-0 in six starts in May, and the Rockies were 5-1 when he took the mound.
He was a big part of Colorado’s 16-10 record for May. The Rockies closed the month with six straight wins, and then tacked on two more in June before losing to the Cubs 6-3 in Chicago on Tuesday night.
Marquez (6-2, 3.48 ERA) gets the ball in Wednesday’s second game of the series at Wrigley Field. He will go against Chicago right-hander Yu Darvish, and Marquez’s teammates feel good when he is pitching.
“We lean on him and have a lot of confidence in him,” shortstop Trevor Story said after Marquez’s last start.
Marquez had one rough outing, May 15 at Boston, when he allowed five runs on 10 hits, but he followed it up with an eight-inning gem at Pittsburgh. Only twice in his 13 starts this season has he not pitched beyond the fifth inning, and he is averaging more than six innings per start.
Darvish (2-3, 5.02) hasn’t had the same success for Chicago. He hasn’t won since April 27, but on the positive side he hasn’t recorded a loss since April 20.
In six May starts, Darvish averaged 5 1/3 innings, but the right-hander has started to look like the pitcher he was at the start of his career. He has gone six, seven and six innings in his last three outings and allowed only one run in a no-decision against St. Louis on Friday.
“It’s really good for me (mentally),” Darvish said after the game against the Cardinals. “Because I have a good outing one start, (and) the next outing (is) always, like, four runs, five runs. But now I’m getting better, so it makes me more confident.”
That confidence will be tested against a team in which he has struggled. In three career starts against the Rockies, he is 0-3 with a 10.13 ERA, and he is facing a lineup that is clicking. Third baseman Nolan Arenado extended his hitting streak to 14 games on Tuesday and is coming off a May in which he hit .425.
Story has also heated up, knocking in seven runs against Toronto on Friday and finishing with four homers on the 10-game homestand.
Marquez, like Darvish, has faced Wednesday’s opponent three times but he has had more success. In those outings, all of them starts, he is 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA. He lasted just three innings in his only start at Wrigley Field — on June 9, 2017 — but only allowed two runs. He needed 80 pitches to complete the three innings.