Clips for 7-12-10

MEDIA CLIPS – July 22, 2017 Marquez goes for second win vs. Bucs of '17 By Max Gelman / MLB.com | 1:45 PM ET As the Pirates and Rockies prepare for their second game of a three-game series, both of Saturday's starting pitchers are coming off outings that saw them set new strikeout career highs. The surging Pirates, who have won six straight and enter Saturday two games behind the National League Central- leading Brewers, will send right-hander Chad Kuhl to the hill. The Bucs' right-hander fanned seven Brewers in a 4-2 win on Monday, while Rockies rookie German Marquez whiffed nine Padres during a 9-6 win, also on Monday. Kuhl and Marquez have each struck out 76 batters this year. The two young starters faced each other once before this season -- a 5-1 Rockies win on June 14. Kuhl gave up three runs in five innings, while Marquez was charged with one run in five. Three things to know about this game • After a rocky start lasting through the end of May, Kuhl has righted the ship. In his last nine starts dating back to May 31, he owns a 3.47 ERA and has struck out 7.7 batters per nine innings. • Since allowing 13 runs in his first two starts at Coors Field this season, Marquez has allowed nine runs in 33 1/3 innings over five home starts, which is good for a 2.43 ERA. • Ian Desmond is the only Rockies hitter to have a home run in his career against Kuhl. He hit his dinger in the meeting earlier this season. 1 Arenado homers, but Rox's streak snapped By Thomas Harding and Max Gelman / MLB.com | 2:49 AM ET DENVER -- Pirates first baseman Josh Bell didn't waste time. His first two swings Friday night produced four runs. Otherwise, Bucs hitters forced Rockies rookie Jeff Hoffman into 82 excruciating pitches over three-plus innings, scoring seven runs in a 13-5 victory at Coors Field. With their six-game winning streak, the Pirates are two games behind the National League Central-leading Brewers and are over .500 for the first time since April 10. Bell, who had a career-high four hits, hit Hoffman's first offerings for an RBI single in the first and a three-run double in the second. Andrew McCutchen added three hits and three RBIs, and Jordy Mercer's two-run homer in the sixth off Rockies reliever Jordan Lyles traveled a projected 444 feet, according to Statcast™. The Pirates pounded a season-high 18 hits. "You look up at the top of the sixth and your starting pitcher's hit four times," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Can't count the times that's happened while I was a manager. Everybody found a way on base, everybody contributed." The Rockies saw their win streak end at four games. Their loss, coupled with the D-backs' 6-5 victory over the Nationals, saw them fall out a tie with Arizona for the top NL Wild Card spot. Third baseman Nolan Arenado drove in two runs, one on his 22nd homer of the season, increasing his NL-leading RBI total to 82. While Bell hunted first pitches, the Pirates used a patient approach to produce nine hits and four walks against Hoffman (6-2). "He really couldn't establish the fastball and curveball, which really is his bread and butter," Rockies manager Bud Black said. The Rockies took a 3-2 lead after one inning, but Pirates starter Trevor Williams (4-4) settled in and was charged with five runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. "You just go back out there for that second inning," Williams said of his poor first frame. "That first inning, I was trying to feel what I had tonight. What was working, what wasn't working, and unfortunately, I was going 1-0, 2-0 to a lot of hitters." 2 MOMENTS THAT MATTERED For him, the Bell tolls: The Pirates regained the lead for good with Bell's bases-clearing double. The three Pirates in front of Bell reached against Hoffman through two walks and a hit by pitch, and Bell capitalized. He matched a career high with four RBIs, a mark he set last Friday vs. the Cardinals. He's off, man: Hoffman not only struggled on the hill, but also at the plate. In the second inning, after the Pirates took the lead through Bell's double, Rockies catcher Tony Wolters led off with a double. Hoffman was asked to bunt, which he did, but the Rockies starter left the bunt close enough to the plate that catcher Francisco Cervelli fielded it and threw Wolters out at third. The Rockies did not advance past second base until Arenado's solo home run in the seventh. SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS There's no way to parse Hoffman's struggles into a positive, but Statcast™ suggests it could've been a better night. According to strike zone imaging, eight Hoffman borderline pitches were ruled balls. Four of those were first pitches, which meant Hoffman was forced to pitch from behind in the count. THAT'LL LEAVE A MARK Colorado's pitchers tied a club record by hitting four Pirates hitters, the fourth time that has occurred in Rockies franchise history. The last time they hit four was against the Dodgers on April 24, 2005. WHAT'S NEXT Pirates: The Pirates will send young righty Chad Kuhl (3-6, 4.85 ERA) to the mound against the Rockies, one start after striking out a career-high seven batters. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET, as the Pirates look to make it seven straight wins. Rockies: Right-hander German Marquez (7-4, 4.34 ERA) pitched five innings and earned a victory over the Pirates at PNC Park on June 14 -- the Rox's only win over the Bucs this season. Marquez will aim to put the Rockies back in the win column against the Pirates on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. MT at Coors Field. 3 Hoffman loses fastball command vs. Pirates Rookie right-hander allows seven runs on nine hits and four walks in loss By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | @harding_at_mlb | 1:56 AM ET DENVER -- No fastball, no chance for Rockies rookie right-hander Jeff Hoffman on Friday night. Hoffman gave up seven runs on nine hits and four walks in three innings, plus three batters in the fourth, while grinding through 82 pitches in the 13-5 loss at Coors Field that ended a Rockies win streak at four games. "The fastball command thing -- I just wasn't able to locate it when I needed it," said Hoffman (6-2, 5.10 ERA), who had won his previous two decisions. "I was confident in it, it's tough to get to it. You can't really just pitch with the curveball. "Everything is going to go back to the fastball command." At least Hoffman, 24, had his changeup for the first time in three weeks. But still, Friday was his second-worst performance of the season. He coughed up nine runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings against the D-backs at home on June 21. Rockies manager Bud Black, who also saw Hoffman struggle with the curve but end up with a few good changeups, said it's merely another test in the life of a younger starting pitcher. Hoffman is one of four rookies in the current rotation for a Rockies team that holds the second National League Wild Card. But other than the two rough outings, he has gone seven innings four times and fewer than six just four times in 11 starts. The challenge is to rebound. "We'll see," Black said. "Jeff is so young in his career. But the guy's shown the ability to do that. That's an early good sign for Jeff. "I know that he's already thinking about Wednesday in St. Louis. He's extremely, I'm sure, motivated. So we have all the confidence in the world in Jeff." Hoffman also found consistent misfortune with borderline pitches. According to Statcast™ strike-zone imaging, eight borderline pitches (those touching any part of the strike zone border) were balls. Of those plate appearances, six ended 4 with a hit or a walk, including Josh Bell's three-run double in the second and two walks that helped lead to the double. Of the four borderline first pitches that were balls, three of them led to hits - including Josh Harrison's leadoff double in the two-run fourth. Hoffman said he just needs to make better adjustments. "Coming into tonight, I had a few things in mind," Hoffman said. "I worked on them and they were good in the bullpen. But they just didn't translate. I'm just going to continue to work on things we've been working on and just do those things until we can make that translate into a game situation." 5 GM Bridich believes in Rox's young starters Colorado looking to add to bullpen, not rotation, ahead of Trade Deadline By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | @harding_at_mlb | 1:56 AM ET DENVER -- Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich's confidence has reached the hearts of the team's young starters. Bridich explained in an interview with MLB.com Wednesday that rather than seek veteran starting pitching, he believes in his current starters, and bullpen help is the priority. "That says to us that he believes in us," rookie lefty Kyle Freeland said.

Load more