Rockies rely on strong bullpen again, sweep 2 from A's

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — German Márquez struck out eight over six impressive innings to bounce back after losing on opening day at Texas, and the Colorado Rockies wrapped up a successful season-opening road trip by beating the Oakland Athletics 5-1 on Wednesday.

Charlie Blackmon delivered an insurance run with an RBI double in the eighth, then reached on an error in the ninth that led to a pair of runs.

The Rockies went 4-1 on their trip after beating the A’s 8-3 on Tuesday night. They now go home to Coors Field.

“It’s very important to start winning from the beginning with what happened,” Márquez said. “We have to keep playing like this. It’s a good feeling.”

Garrett Hampson hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the fourth to help back Márquez (1-1), who on Friday against the Rangers carried a no-hit bid into the sixth before Texas rallied.

The Rockies continue to get reliable relief pitching to back strong performances by the starters.

“At critical times we’re making pitches. We were stressed a couple of times today and we got out of it again with Carlos (Estévez) and Jairo (Díaz). We got out of some jams in Texas,” manager Bud Black said. “Overall, I think the guys have done a really good job executing the game plan. I think our baseball ops department along with our pitching coaches had a real good strategy with the Rangers and with the A’s. This is a good team, the A’s are a good team with a good lineup. I thought we pitched them well.”

Estévez relieved Márquez and escaped the seventh unscathed with the tying run on second after he hit Stephen Piscotty, who then stole second.

In the eighth, Oakland put two runners on against Díaz before Mark Canha was hit by a pitch to load the bases. But Robbie Grossman struck out, putting Oakland...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Rockies-rely-on-strong-bullpen-again-sweep-2-15444140.php