Rockies walk off in 11th on wild pitch

DENVER -- Rockies pitcher Germán Márquez knew his dominance was about to end after seven innings Tuesday night, so he accepted manager Bud Black’s congratulatory handshake -- then sweated out an 11-inning, 3-2 victory over the Rangers at Coors Field.

The Rockies’ won when Ryan McMahon scored on Brett Martin’s one-out wild pitch. But before the odd ending, even before a solid bullpen effort, Márquez’s dominant evening and recent roll put the Rockies in position for a second straight victory and needed home success.

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While the Rockies have been deservedly panned for their 4-22 road record, Tuesday improved them to 17-12 at Coors -- and sent the Rangers to their 13th straight road loss.

Márquez -- who limited the Rangers to one run and two hits, fanning seven -- had retired 11 straight Rangers, three of the last four on strikeouts, when the seventh ended. On the last one, Brock Holt practically admitted defeat by not removing the bat from his shoulder for the final four of his 88 pitches. But in the dugout afterward, after a long, animated (but pleasant) conversation, Márquez showed discretion.

“Buddy has known me for a long time,” Márquez said. “And I just told him I felt like my fastball was running a little bit. I wanted to give it to the bullpen. Plus, I was leading off [the bottom of the seventh] and we needed runs. I thought it was a good decision.”

The decision took a while to pay dividends. Pinch-hitter Khris Davis deposited a mistake slider from Carlos Estévez over the right-field scoreboard to tie the game in the eighth. But Estévez, Daniel Bard, Tyler Kinley and Mychal Givens -- who erased 11th-inning designated runner Jonah Heim trying to steal third -- combined for seven strikeouts to make sure the result didn’t detract from Márquez’s work.

Black acknowledged the difficulty in going to the bullpen, but Márquez’s honesty swayed him, along with the length of the season and the closeness of the game.

“That was maybe the toughest decision I had all night, but when we talked after the seventh he indicated to me he had hit the end of the line. With Germán, and even Kyle [Freeland] and [Antonio] Senzatela and Jon Gray, our relationship in the dugout in games like this is so paramount to decisions like this.”

Givens, who also had a strikeout and got the decision, said, “Looking at the great start we had, we [in the bullpen] just passed the baton.”

Márquez can be honest when his tank is empty, since there’s every indication that he’ll be plenty replenished next time. Márquez has posted a 1.97 ERA in his last five starts. You might say he was somewhat motivated by the start before the streak began, when he yielded eight runs in just two-thirds of an inning against the Giants on May 4.

The early part of the season was a struggle, with poor fastball command and high walk totals. But Márquez developed more consistent timing with his delivery, regained the ability to spot his fastball in and out of the stretch and -- after years of cajoling from Black and pitching coach Steve Foster -- added a limited number of changeups to his repertoire.

“I’ve been working in the bullpen with my pitching coach to make things right,” Márquez said. “And I always have my confidence.”