Márquez earns 3rd straight win, Rockies shut out Twins 1-0

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Germán Márquez pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings and the Colorado Rockies edged the Twins 1-0 Friday night in a rare trip to Minnesota.

Charlie Blackmon’s run-scoring fielder’s choice was the difference for the Rockies, who snapped a three-game skid.

Márquez (4-5) had a season high in innings and season low in runs in winning his third straight decision as Colorado bounced back from a three-game sweep in Miami.

“I haven’t lost my confidence,” Márquez said of his recent improvement after holding a 6.71 ERA through his first 10 starts. “It feels good, man. It feels good to win this game like this.”

Daniel Bard relieved Márquez with runners on first and third in the eighth and got an inning-ending groundout. He finished out his 15th save in 17 chances with a perfect ninth as the Rockies notched their first shutout of the season.

“We haven’t done that in a while, so pretty cool,” Bard said of the shutout. “He was unbelievable. He’s been building up, I don’t know, the last three or four. You’ve seen it, solid starts after solid starts. Tonight, was just dominance like we’ve seen in the past from me.”

Connor Joe had a pair of hits and scored a run for Colorado, which is playing in Minnesota for just the fourth time in franchise history and the first since 2017.

Dylan Bundy (4-4) allowed a run in six innings for the Twins, giving up four hits and two walks. Minnesota was shut out for the 10th time in 72 games this season, one night after shutting out Cleveland.

“It’s a significant amount, but the last few times I can sit here and think of how many balls we absolutely got into,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of the 10 shutouts. “If we weren’t hitting balls hard, if it was just a quiet, soft exit to the game and we got shut out, I’d probably have a lot more to worry about at this point than when you have a bunch of balls hit 100, 105 mph off the bat and it’s not leading to anything.”

Neither team could supply much offense despite the warm, humid night that had a starting temperature of 91 degrees and wind blowing out to left field at 13 mph.

Márquez surrendered just three hits and managed around a leadoff walk in four separate innings. The 2021 All-Star right-hander used his fastball, particularly his 2-seamer, to induce 12 groundball outs.

“It showed some maturity, it showed some poise,” Rockies manager Bud Black said of Márquez getting out of trouble created by the leadoff walks. “Obviously, he didn’t want to do that. But the reality was that he did and he had to overcome that."

BUNDY’S NIGHT

Bundy allowed two hits through his first five innings, but the Rockies manufactured a run in the sixth. Joe and Yonathan Daza singled in the inning and Joe came around to score on Blackmon’s grounder to shortstop Carlos Correa.

It’s Bundy’s second straight quality start. He’s allowed one run or fewer in four of his five starts at home this season.

“I feel good with my delivery, my body feels pretty good, arm feels good,” Bundy said. “There’s no excuses, it’s just me executing the ball where I want it to go.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rockies: Kris Bryant won’t make his return during the weekend series in Minnesota as originally hoped. Bryant, who has been out since May 24 with a lower back strain, will remain with Triple-A Albuquerque and will likely return next week when Colorado returns home. Black said Bryant didn’t have a setback and the team just wanted to give him more time.

Twins: OF Byron Buxton was out of the lineup for the third straight game as he deals with a lingering knee issue, but he pinch-hit in the eighth. Baldelli said Buxton is feeling better and hopes to have him back in the lineup this weekend. … 2B Jorge Polanco (low back tightness) was scheduled to begin baseball activities on Friday and could return Monday or Tuesday, according to Baldelli. Polanco, who has been out since June 13, likely won’t need a rehab assignment.

UP NEXT

RHP Chris Archer (1-3, 3.44 ERA) starts the Saturday night matchup for Minnesota, with Colorado countering with RHP Antonio Senzatela (3-3, 4.42). Archer hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any of his last four starts, but he has only lasted four innings in each of his last two outings. Senzatela has allowed five total runs over his last three starts, spanning 18 innings.

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports