It was a perfect Friday night for baseball at Coors Field. The first-pitch temperature was 73 degrees, there were 33,747 fans in the stands, and six home runs.
Yep, perfect if you were one of the multitude of Cubs fans who turned the LoDo ballpark into Wrigley Field West, saw shortstop Dansby Swanson smack two homers and a triple, and cheered your team on to an 11-7 victory over the Rockies.
But for Colorado starter German Marquez, it was a game to forget.
Making his first start since going on the injured list with right biceps tendinitis on July 21, Marquez was gone after 4 1/3 innings, having given up eight runs on nine hits. He walked three, struck out none, and served up two home runs.
Swanson ripped a two-run homer to left-center in the second, Ian Happ led off the fourth with a blast to left to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead. It was still a manageable game for Marquez — until he got blown up in the fifth when Chicago scored six runs. The big blow was Happ’s two-run double.
Marquez got the hook when he walked the bases full, putting reliever Jaden Hill in a precarious spot against the suddenly sizzling Swanson. He ripped a three-run triple on a night when he drove in a season-high six runs. His career high is seven RBIs, though his 11 total bases set a career high.
Colorado right-hander Antonio Senzatela, working out of the bullpen after getting removed from the starting rotation earlier this week, got hit hard. Swanson led off the seventh with a 441-foot homer to center, and Michael Busch followed with a two-out homer to center. Busch hammered Senzatela’s 1-0, 94.2 mph fastball 466 feet to center.
Chicago starter Cade Horton, who entered the game with a 0.49 ERA since the All-Star break, tamed the Coors Field beast, for the most part. Rockies designated hitter Yanquiel Fernandez tagged him for a two-run homer in the fourth. Horton (9-4, 2.92 ERA) allowed two runs on six hits over five innings. He struck out four and walked two.
Fernandez, who homered at Houston on Thursday, also led off the eighth with a double and jogged home on Kyle Farmer’s pinch-hit homer off former Rockie Drew Pomeranz.
The Rockies, as is their wont, rallied late and got a three-hit game from catcher Hunter Goodman and a two-hit night from center fielder Brenton Doyle. Colorado cranked out 14 hits but was 2 for 16 with runners in scoring position, while Chicago had 15 hits and was 5 for 13 with RISP.
Darnell out, wedding on. Right-hander reliever Dugan Darnell said Friday that he’ll undergo season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip. The surgery is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 23.
“It’s going to take a little bit of time, but I’ll be OK,” he said, adding that the recovery time is about eight months. “It was definitely a little hard for the first couple of days, but I’ve accepted it and plan to come back strong.”
Darnell was injured on Aug. 21 in the eighth inning of a game against the Dodgers when he took a line drive off his hip. He was placed on the injured list the next day. He said he didn’t think the injury was severe when it first occurred. The right-hander made nine appearances for the Rockies, finishing with a 3.86 ERA and 1.46 WHIP over 11 2/3 innings.
“I think he showed he can pitch in the big leagues,” manager Warren Schaffer said.
Darnell’s been a feel-good story during the Rockies’ difficult season. He went from being a part-time Division III college pitcher to an independent leaguer to the majors. Now his dream is on hold, but his October wedding in Michigan to his fiancée, Emily Tatge, is still a go.
“It’s looking like we are not going to do the dance, but I’ll have a customized cane for my wedding,” Darnell said, adding that he’s contemplating wearing a bowtie and a tophat.