PHOENIX -- Rockies right-hander German Márquez joked that he is going to ¡°hang out with my bed¡± after the second-heaviest innings load in the National League during the first half, which ended with a helping of frustration Sunday afternoon.

Marquez pitched better than his line -- five runs (four earned) and six hits in six innings -- in the Rockies¡¯ sixth straight loss, 5-3 to the D-backs, who swept the three games at Chase Field.

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By dropping 11 of their last 15, the Rockies have dropped below .500 (44-45) for the first time since May 28. The goal of making a third straight postseason still looms, even though the Rockies are fourth in the National League West and 14 1/2 games behind the first-place Dodgers (but right with the 46-45 D-backs and 45-45 Padres). They¡¯re 2 1/2 games back in the current Wild Card standings, which have a veritable gaggle of teams harboring hope.

Colorado has to overcome history -- it has never made the postseason after reaching the break with a losing record.

In a sense, Marquez¡¯s solid performance not being rewarded encapsulates the disjointed baseball the Rockies are playing.

After mostly poor pitching during the last homestand, the Rockies came to Arizona -- where they had won a club-record six straight games -- hoping for better. Antonio Senzatela struggled Friday in an 8-0 loss, but Jon Gray had a decent effort Saturday in a 4-2 loss.

Marquez¡¯s day was undone by a hanging slider that Nick Ahmed sent to left-center for a two-run homer and 5-0 lead in the sixth.

¡°My stuff was good today -- fastball command was good, my curveball was sharp, the break was good,¡± Marquez said. ¡°One bad pitch.¡±

But poor offense -- no hits in six innings against D-backs rookie starter Alex Young and no runs until Chris Iannetta¡¯s two-run homer in the eighth -- and shoddy defense hurt. Trevor Story broke up the no-hit bid with an infield single to third base off reliever Yoshihisa Hirano to start the seventh, and he hit a leadoff shot in the ninth to bring the Rockies within two runs.

Marquez¡¯s third-inning leadoff strikeout of Young -- one of his five to improve his total to 125 (eighth in the NL) -- was negated when catcher Tony Wolters couldn¡¯t block what was ruled a wild pitch. A Wolters passed ball and an Eduardo Escobar double, on a hard bouncer that first baseman Daniel Murphy couldn¡¯t handle, accounted for a run.

¡°I should have made it,¡± Murphy said.

In the sixth, All-Star right fielder Charlie Blackmon made two poor throws that allowed an extra base and kept the pressure on Marquez, who eventually served up Ahmed¡¯s home run. The homer was the 17th off Marquez in 20 starts, after he gave up 24 in 33 starts last year.

With the Rockies¡¯ best pitcher of 2018, lefty Kyle Freeland, having spent much of the first half at Triple-A Albuquerque after a poor start, Marquez (8-4) and Gray (9-6) have been the team¡¯s most consistent pitchers. Marquez¡¯s 127 1/3 innings pitched trail only the Nationals¡¯ Max Scherzer¡¯s 129 1/3 in the NL. His 4.45 ERA is high for someone who has pitched that much, but the record and innings load indicate he can shake off bad happenings. Soft-contact hits, especially at Coors Field, have been frequent. Sunday, he simply had no help.

¡°Unfortunately, as an offense, we made him thread the needle right there, but he threw the ball really well,¡± Murphy said.

As part of overcoming the recent doldrums, the Rockies will need more efforts like Sunday¡¯s from Marquez and similar work from the rest of the starters. After leading the NL in starter innings pitched last year, the Rockies enter the break seventh.

¡°It¡¯s a good break,¡± Marquez said. ¡°Take it easy, get some rest and get ready for the second half.¡±