Once a rookie almost too nervous to meet one of his pitching idols, Rockies righty Germán Márquez surpassed him Thursday afternoon.

M¨¢rquez needed just 62 pitches for a complete game -- six innings in a doubleheader opener. Although the Rockies lost to the Mets, 1-0, the six-strikeout performance was one for M¨¢rquez to remember.

M¨¢rquez improved his career strikeout total to 702, which allowed him to surpass former Mariners ace F¨¦lix Hern¨¢ndez -- by two -- for the most by a Venezuelan-born pitcher through 120 career games in Major League history. So M¨¢rquez could smile after a hard-luck loss, and why not?

? A 62-pitch complete game? It happened

¡°I feel happy,¡± said M¨¢rquez, whose only mistake came on the first pitch of the third, when Jos¨¦ Peraza sat on a slider -- one that didn¡¯t have the bite of most of his other pitches. ¡°The second pitcher is F¨¦lix Hern¨¢ndez, one of my favorite pitchers in the big leagues.

¡°It¡¯s a good feeling to be around those kinds of numbers."

During his rookie year of 2017, the Mariners came to Coors. M¨¢rquez, not scheduled to pitch in that series, nervously wondered if he would be able to meet Hern¨¢ndez, who last pitched in the Majors in 2019 for the Mariners. M¨¢rquez could say he was from San Felix, Venezuela, but that¡¯s a long way from equal footing with King F¨¦lix.

Neither would pitch in that four-game series in ¡®17, but the two -- and another impressionable Rockies Venezuelan starter, Antonio Senzatela -- met and talked in the outfield during conditioning drills.

And on July 6, 2018, M¨¢rquez met Hern¨¢ndez under different circumstances -- on the field in Seattle, where M¨¢rquez pitched the Rockies to a 7-1 victory. The best part of M¨¢rquez¡¯s six-inning performance? ¡°He said I have a good arm,¡± M¨¢rquez said after that game.

Senzatela, who took the loss as the Rockies fell, 4-2, in the second game, felt the significance of M¨¢rquez¡¯s accomplishment.

¡°We feel really proud to be Venezuelan guys, and I feel really proud to watch him pitch, every time,¡± Senzatela said. ¡°I want to say thank God for giving me the opportunity to be here watching him, and to be a Venezuelan guy.¡±

Rockies right-hander Jhoulys Chac¨ªn, who began his career with the Rockies and is back as a long reliever and spot-starter, is ninth on the list -- he struck out 496 in his first 120 games.

M¨¢rquez has continued to make his own name. He has been a key member of the rotation for four seasons, started on Opening Day the past two and has overcome a slow start to 2021 to the tune of a 2.25 ERA in his past four starts. The improvement came, according to manager Bud Black, when M¨¢rquez and the coaches noticed that sometimes his delivery was too fast and sometimes too slow, then worked on making sure it is timed just right.

But M¨¢rquez, who had one of the three Rockies hits off Mets starter Marcus Stroman in six innings and closer Edwin D¨ªaz in the seventh, admitted he¡¯s not at the point where he would, say, call Hern¨¢ndez and talk numbers.

¡°Not at all,¡± M¨¢rquez said. ¡°But I¡¯ve heard he¡¯s a good guy.¡±

Venezuelan K leaders
Most strikeouts through the first 120 regular-season games by a pitcher born in Venezuela:

1. Germ¨¢n M¨¢rquez: 702
2. F¨¦lix Hern¨¢ndez: 700
3. Eduardo Rodriguez: 649
4. Anibal S¨¢nchez: 612
5. Freddy Garcia: 586
6. Carlos Zambrano: 565
7. Carlos Carrasco: 533
8. Tony Armas Jr.: 501
9. Jhoulys Chac¨ªn: 496
10. Wilson Alvarez: 440