Márquez removed as precaution in chase for club history
DENVER — As he warmed up for the sixth inning Monday night time, Rockies pitcher Germán Márquez started flexing the fitting forearm that had stored the Cardinals at bay for 5 innings.
Catcher Elias Díaz noticed extra than simply uncomfortable motion. He noticed Márquez’s season, and the fortunes of a Rockies workforce that may’t afford to lose its No. 1 starter, flash earlier than his eyes, so he summoned athletic trainers from the dugout.
The hope is Márquez, who left after 5 innings in his 7-4 victory at Coors Field, was right about his mid-forearm tightness when he stated, “I’ll be OK.”
If so, the Rockies can get pleasure from an evening of manufacturing from lower-order hitters Alan Trejo (profession high-tying three hits), Ezequiel Tovar (two doubles) and Elehuris Montero (double and single to make his common .400 — 8-for-20 — over his final six video games).
Márquez — who retired the primary 9 batters, eight on grounders, gave up two runs throughout an uncomfortable fourth and retired the final six batters he noticed — remained hopeful, at the same time as he completed the night time with an digital stimulator hooked to his throwing arm.
Doctors examined him after he left the sport. It was unclear whether or not an extra examination, resembling an MRI, is required. Márquez, who acknowledged he has handled tightness between begins, doesn’t know if he’ll miss a begin. The rotation is skinny behind Márquez and Kyle Freeland.
“I felt it in the fourth, when I tried to hurry up a little bit,” Márquez stated. “Díaz told me I had to stop when he saw me warming up in the sixth, and he saw it.”
Before the worrisome muscle difficulty, Márquez had his second standout begin this season. He threw simply 62 pitches and completed with 4 strikeouts to extend his profession complete to 979, all since breaking in with the Rockies in 2016. He is six from Jorge De La Rosa’s membership file. The victory was his sixty fifth, which moved him forward of Jeff Francis and into third place in Colorado historical past.
Cardinals third baseman and former teammate Nolan Arenado stopped earlier than the sport to understand Márquez’s place within the historical past of a membership that has struggled to pitch in its excessive hitter-friendly surroundings.
“Hopefully, [the strikeout mark] doesn’t happen tonight — that would not be good,” Arenado stated. “But he’s obviously had electric stuff. I’ve always loved Márquez, man. He’s so talented. And to see him maintain that here, it’s hard to do. Pitching in Colorado is not easy. It’s not easy physically, but it’s also not easy mentally. For Márquez to stay so strong mentally shows how good he is.”
“I was super good, commanding everything good,” Márquez stated. “But the thing happened, and I have to be worried about it.”
Díaz stopped Márquez from giving himself extra trigger for fear.
“I saw him moving his arm and saw his face,” Díaz stated. “And I said, ‘Something’s wrong here.’”
Diaz, head athletic coach Keith Dugger, assistant athletic coach Heath Townsend and supervisor Bud Black strode to the mound and did a fast examination. Márquez dropped the baseball, conferred extra, then left the sphere with Townsend.
Black described the choice to finish Márquez’s night time as precautionary.
“Hope he’s going to be fine — we think he is,” Black stated. “We’re going to re-evaluate, see how he is tomorrow, the next day. He did the right thing, let us know.”
