German Marquez, Tom Murphy Shine in Albuquerque Loss

German Marquez limited the Oklahoma City Dodgers to just two hits over six innings. However, the Dodgers got that many hits in just five pitches thrown by Simon Castro and that proved to be the downfall of the Albuquerque Isotopes on Wednesday night.

Corey Brown launched the first pitch he saw from Castro deep over the right-field wall to give Oklahoma City (70-53) a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Isotopes, Colorado’s Triple-A team. It was a sour ending to a night that had flowed with such promise for Albuquerque.

In his second Triple-A start, Marquez gave up a solo homer to Andrew Toles to open the game and put the Isotopes in a quick 1-0 hole. That, however, was one of the few mistakes the 21-year-old right-hander made on the humid, 89-degree Oklahoma night.

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“He’s just electric. It’s hard to describe,” Albuquerque catcher Tom Murphy said. “The ball comes so easy out of his hand. I think every night he has a chance to do what he did tonight, or maybe even better. He can throw three pitches whenever he wants for strikes and they’re all plus pitches.”

Marquez gave up just two hits and issued three walks. However, he was able to work his way out of jams each time. His six strikeouts were part of 10 Ks on the night by Isotopes pitchers.

“He was really confident in his changeup, which is great,” added Murphy, a player many Rockies fans are hoping to see back in Denver sooner than later. “I thought early on he was pushing it across the zone but once he got a feel for it, he was really confident in it with both lefties and righties. That’s something you don’t see too often. His fastball was good too at any time. He runs it up there and it’s hard to hit.”

While Marquez was keeping the Oklahoma City offense off-balance, Jose De Leon was nearly as dominant for the Dodgers. Albuquerque (57-66) had just six hits on the night against De Leon, who struck out 10 in his seven innings of work. However, two of those hits came from Murphy, including a fourth-inning solo homer that was his 16th round-tripper of the season.

“I had a pretty good night. I got myself into decent counts, saw the ball well and laid off tough pitches,” Murphy said. “I’m just trying to be as consistent as I can be. That’s what the big leaguers do and that’s what I want to do. If I come to the park every day with the same mindset and same process and give it my all every day, that’s all I can ask for.”

Next: Matt Herges Reflects Upon Colorado's 2007 Season

Mike Tauchman was the only other Isotope to have multiple hits, putting together a 2-for-3 night at the plate.

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