German Marquez shines as Rockies pull off gritty 3-2 win vs. the Reds

Victor Vodnik beat his chest mouthed several choice words and received a celebratory hug from catcher Hunter Goodman Why not Vodnik had just closed out the Rockies grittiest win of the season After giving up a leadoff double Vodnik struck out TJ Friedl Matt McLain intentionally walked the dangerous Elly De La Cruz and then fanned cleanup hitter Austin Hayes to close out a - win over the Reds on Friday night at Great American Ball Park Colorado fanned times which is usually a death knell But its pitchers struck out the Red times including whiffing Hays four times each time to end an inning The Rockies had multiple heroes majority especially starter German Marquez and they needed every one of them Colorado cobbled together the winning run in the eighth combining a one-out walk by Hunter Goodman a single to center by Jordan Beck and a two-out infield single by Ryan McMahon to load the bases Goodman scored on a wild pitch by reliever Tony Santillan who overcooked a slider Cincinnati tied the match - in the seventh inning off reliever Jake Bird A leadoff single by Will Benson a double by Noelvi Marte and an RBI groundout by Friedl knotted the contest Bird was in serious trouble but he hung tough and struck out Hays for the third out Colorado took a - lead in the fourth on McMahon s two-run homer off Reds starter Chase Burns McMahon s th homer came on a first-pitch curveball from the right-hander McMahon drove the ball feet Marquez in the final months of his contract and considered a prime bargain candidate as the July deadline approaches conjured up visions of his All-Star season The right-hander s fastball was on point early and his knuckle curve tied the Reds up as the meeting went on Marquez pitched six innings allowing one run on five hits with three walks one intentional and eight strikeouts Related Articles Former Rockies performer DJ LeMahieu cut by Yankees with nearly million left on contract Rockies humbled - as red-hot Red Sox finish three-game sweep Rockies Mailbag Is Thad Levine the fix to Colorado s front office Rockies MLB mock draft tracker What national experts predict Colorado will do Rockies games under blown out by Red Sox as Brayan Bello pitches complete contest Marquez s only mistake was a curveball low in the zone that Marte the No hitter put a barrel on and drove it to left field for a leadoff homer in the third to give Cincinnati a - lead Marquez escaped trouble in the first by inducing Hayes to ground into an inning-ending double play But the strikeout was Marquez s best weapon He struck out Benson to end the second struck out Hayes to end the third after De La Cruz hit a two-out triple on a sinking liner that left fielder Brenton Doyle dove for and missed In the fifth after issuing walks to Friedl and De La Cruz again intentionally he fanned Hays Marquez has a ERA but has a ERA with strikeouts and walks over his last starts Saturday s pitching matchup Rockies RHP Bradley Blaylock - ERA at Reds RHP Brady Singer - p m Saturday Great American Ball Park TV Rockies TV streaming Comcast Xfinity channel DirecTV Spectrum or depending on region Radio AM FM Trending Although Tyler Freeman went hitless Friday night he walked in the third inning extending his career-best on-base streak to games the longest developing on-base streak in the majors Freeman s streak is Colorado s longest since Elehuris Montero s -game on-base streak Aug to Sept Pitching probables Sunday Rockies LHP Austin Gomber - at Reds RHP Nick Martinez - a m Monday-Thursday All-Star break Patrick Saunders The Denver Post Want more Rockies news Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis