Rockies pull off triple play but lose to A’s at Coors Field

Ryan McMahon pumped his fist German Marquez let loose with a roar and Michael Toglia flashed a little kid s grin Good times Then it all fell apart In the second inning the Rockies pulled off the fifth triple play in franchise history But the Rockies blew a - lead and lost - to the Athletics on Saturday night at Coors Field Colorado has lost six straight and opened the season - tying the club for the worst eight-game start in franchise history The gory details are coming but first the highlight reel Marquez walked Shea Langeliers to open the second inning and Tyler Soderstrom reached first on an infield single Then Jacob Wilson hit a hard one-hopper to McMahon at third who stepped on the bag and fired to second baseman Kyle Farmer who threw hard to Toglia at first beating Wilson by a step It was a one-hopper right to me and I took a step toward the bag McMahon stated explaining that he d never been part of a triple play at any level At worst I thought we would get two outs I made a throw to Farmer and he turned it real quick and made a great throw to Toglia It was the first triple play in the majors this season and the Rockies first triple play in almost a decade The last time Colorado pulled it off was on Sept at Coors Field when shortstop Jose Reyes second baseman DJ LeMahieu and first baseman Ben Paulsen pulled off the three-out play on a grounder by Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt Following Saturday s three-for-one special Sean Bouchard hit a two-run homer to left in the bottom of the frame Colorado added another run in the third Then the tournament unraveled Marquez so sharp in his first start of the season at Philadelphia six scoreless innings four hits no walks and four strikeouts lost his edge He walked six in five-plus innings including two leadoff walks The veteran right-hander was charged with four runs three earned on five hits He struck out three I wish I could put a finger on it but I can t manager Bud Black stated I don t know whether as the competition went on he lost feel because of the cold night but it seemed like he couldn t get his urgent ball to consistently break It marked the third time in his career that Marquez walked six batters the second time he struggled with walks during a cold-weather event He also issued six walks in the home opener against the Braves when it snowed and the first-pitch temperature was degrees The temperature for the first pitch on Saturday night was degrees I couldn t feel the ball Marquez commented trying to explain his lack of command The first inning was good but then I couldn t feel the ball Two free passes haunted Marquez in the sixth inning when the A s took a - lead He walked JJ Bleday and Langeliers setting up Soderstrom s run-scoring double to right Out came Marquez and in came righty reliever Jimmy Herget who promptly served up a two-run double to left by Wilson The A s salted away the meeting with a three-run seventh against Colorado left-hander Scott Alexander Brent Rooker hit a solo home run feet to center and Langeliers followed with a two-run -foot blast to center Alexander is a sinkerball pitcher and Black reported he didn t keep the ball down in the zone Colorado staged a mini-rally in the eighth with a solo homer by Ryan McMahon followed by a single by Kris Bryant and a walk by Michael Toglia off A s right-hander Tyler Ferguson But Farmer s drive to deep right was hauled in by Lawrence Butler The clubs face off again Sunday afternoon with the Rockies trying to avoid their second straight three-game sweep