Colorado Rockies quiet against Zack Greinke losing ground on Dbacks

Dustin Garneau sits in a folding chair in front of his locker looking dejected starting at his left pinky after the Colorado Rockies 6-3 loss against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He proceeds to say things that are better left off the record. Garneau has every reason to be upset. His team had the bases loaded in the ninth inning with no outs when the umpire ruled that the pitch hit off his bat and in to the catchers mitt leading to a strikeout.

"“It hit my pinky,” Garneau said. “If it hits the knob of my bat it’s going to shoot off somewhere. It’s not going into the catcher’s mitt like that. It’s one of those things that sucks. I knew I go hit and it brings the winning run to the plate. It’s a huge situation for us but they missed it.”"

Garneau then spoke to another missed factor in this game. Starter German Marquez’s fastball command. Garneau commended Marquez though for adjusting after giving up two home runs to Paul Goldschmidt by finding his off speed pitches.

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Marquez has drawn the shortest straws possible in his first two starts at Coors Field. His first major league start was against arguably the best team in baseball in the Washington Nationals, on a miserably rainy night at the end of April. On Friday in the series opener, he had the unenviable task facing Zack Greinke and the remerging Diamondbacks.

Marquez didn’t start well but he recovered and got to the sixth inning. Marquez is coming off a second consecutive start against the Diamondbacks. In two starts at Coors Field, the righty is 0-2 with a 11.70 ERA. While he said he wouldn’t change his game plan, Marquez isn’t one to back down from his challenging starts at Coors Field.

"“I’m a battler and I’m a fighter so I’m always trying to do my best to pitch well and keep the team in the game and being able to save the bullpen is important,” Marquez said through an interpreter."

Marquez’s counterpart Greinke looked like he was back in his Cy Young days. He allowed two runs on six hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. Mark Reynolds, Gerardo Parra and Garneau were the only ones to have success against Greinke. Reynolds has some ways to cope when facing Greinke in the batter’s box.

"“You hope he makes a mistake. It’s all you can do,” Reynolds said. “You just have to take advantage when he doesn’t make many.”"

Reynolds hit Greinke’s fastball mistake for his team leading ninth home run (he hit his ninth home run on July 7 in 2016.) He led off the ninth inning after being down two strikes by shortening his swing and getting a lead off single. Reynold’s hot start and resiliency are mirroring the Rockies as a whole.

"“When you get the tying run to the plate it’s always a good thing. It just shows the resiliency that we have. You never know what’s going to happen, especially at Coors,” he said."

What is happening so far at Coors for the Rockies is that they haven’t exactly broke away at home. The loss was their fourth straight at home and are now 7-7 in LoDo.

Ian Desmond got his first start at Coors Field in this game but it wasn’t quite the debut he was looking for going 0-4 with three strikeouts.

"“It was cool, glad to get it out of the way,” Desmond said speaking of his debut. ” Obviously we would have liked to have the W. It was good [to play in front of the fans]. I would have liked to have thrown a little better performance out there, but it happens. It’s not going to be the last time.”"

Next: Colorado Rockies: 5 Famous Star Wars Quotes and the Players They Fit

On a night where Greinke had masterful control of his slider, maybe the best medicine for a tough loss is to look for the many next times ahead.

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