Colorado Rockies Drop Series Finale to Miami Marlins

Yes, Ichiro Suzuki got his famed 3,000th hit on Sunday afternoon at Coors Field. But for the Colorado Rockies, this weekend was about trying to win a series against a Wild Card competitor rather than being a part of history. As it turns out, Suzuki’s historic hit played a role in Colorado not accomplishing that goal.

Suzuki slapped a seventh-inning triple off the right field wall for his milestone, then scored one of Miami’s 10 runs on the day as the Marlins fended off Colorado’s repeated attempts at a comeback to record a 10-7 win.

Paired with Friday night’s comeback win, the Marlins took two of three games from the Rockies in a pivotal series at Coors Field. With the loss, Colorado drops to 55-56 on the season and four games back of Miami for the second Wild Card slot.

In every game of the series, Miami hopped on Colorado’s starting pitcher early to put the Rockies in an early hole and Sunday was no exception. Jon Gray was roughed up by the Marlins in the first inning, surrendering four runs, including two that came via a two-out single by Jeff Mathis.

It was the start of what would be a very rough day for Gray, who gave up eight runs and 10 hits in just 3.2 innings. The final blow was a two-run opposite-field homer by Giancarlo Stanton that capped a four-run fourth inning and made Gray say into the heavens, “Oh my God.”

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On what was Faith Day at Coors Field, many of the Rockies fans were saying the same thing.

The eight runs allowed marked a new career high for Gray, who also tied his career high of 10 hits surrendered. It was only his third start where he hurled 3.2 innings or less this season, and the first since May 19.

Miami’s offense was clicking against Gray but Nolan Arenado did his best to keep the Rockies in the game. Colorado’s All-Star third baseman went 3-for-3 with his 28th and 29th home runs of the season, marking his fourth multi-homer game this season. He is now one shy of reaching his 100th career home run.

While Ichiro logged his 3,000th hit, Charlie Blackmon had a milestone of his own, going 1-for-5 to record his 600th career base hit. Chuck Nazty has now reached base in 18 of his last 20 games.

Also of note, David Dahl went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 13 games, which is the second-longest hitting streak by a Colorado Rockies rookie to begin his career. He now just trails Juan Pierre, who put together a 16-game streak in August of 2000. Overall, Dahl is batting .370 this season.

Next: 6 Big Moments for the Rockies in July

Colorado will look to return to its winning ways on Monday night when the American League West-leading Texas Rangers pay a visit to Coors Field to start a two-game series.