German Marquez provides four solid innings in rehab appearance, Spokane Indians beat Eugene 7-0

It’s 1,086 miles from Avista Stadium to Coors Field in Denver – and three levels of professional baseball from High-A to the major leagues.

One of the players who has already made that journey successfully is Colorado Rockies starting pitcher German Márquez, who was in town Saturday to make a rehab appearance with the Spokane Indians in his recovery from elbow ligament reconstruction surgery in May 2023.

And though he was removed from the game long before the final out, Marquez helped the home team move to 2-0 in the Northwest League second half, tossing four shutout innings, as the Indians beat the Eugene Emeralds 7-0.

Márquez, a 29-year-old right-hander, was named to the NL All-Star team in 2021 and owns a career record of 65-56 in eight big-league seasons with the Rockies. In a start for Low-A Fresno last week he went 2⅓ innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits, with no walks and five strikeouts. He gave up two home runs and threw 52 pitches , 36 for strikes.

He bettered that effort Saturday, allowing one hit and two walks with three strikeouts – including his final two batters.

“I felt good,” Marquez said. “It was fun. There was no pain, which is what we want. I executed my pitches and had fun.”

Marquez threw 50 pitches, 28 for strikes.

“The velocity was good,” he said. “My fastball had some life, and my breaking ball was nice.”

Even though temperatures were in the 60s earlier in the week when he arrived in Spokane, game time temperature at Avista Stadium was 88 degrees, something Marquez appreciated.

“It was nice weather,” he said. “When I was in Arizona (earlier this month), it was hot. Here, the weather was nice to pitch.”

This is the first time Marquez has gone through an injury rehabilitation in his big-league career. His trip through the minors the past couple of weeks has reminded him of when he came up through the minors. He enjoyed being in the Spokane clubhouse this week.

“I’ve never been in this situation before,” he said. “I was in the minor leagues and when I saw the big-league guys come to the minor league division, we all got excited. Everybody here was good guys, and I liked that.”

Even though the Spokane experience was positive for the eight-year major leaguer, he’s itching to get back to Denver.

“There’s always ups and downs with the surgery,” Marquez said. “But we have to keep positive. Like a month ago I had a little setback. But it was nothing big and the good thing is I feel good now and hope to keep it going.”

Marquez walked leadoff hitter Turner Hill, and a wild pitch allowed Hill to move up 90 feet. But three consecutive groundouts allowed Marquez to escape scoreless.

His strikeout in a 1-2-3 second inning came on a breaking ball, then he gave up a walk and a couple of hard-hit lineouts in a scoreless third.

With one down in the bottom half, GJ Hill hit a liner to center fielder that glanced off Turner Hill’s glove and went to the wall. GJ Hill raced around the bases and beat the relay throw to home for an inside-the-park home run and 1-0 lead.

Dyan Jorge walked and Kyle Karros singled up the middle to put runners at the corners. Juan Guerrero bounced one that deflected off the glove of the pitcher and shortstop that went as an RBI single. Karros tried to score on a flyout to medium deep left field but was thrown out at home by Rodolfo Nolasco.

Marquez gave up a line drive off the base of the wall in right for a single from Matt Higgins leading off the fourth. He came back to get a fly out and a pair of strikeouts to end his appearance.

Robby Martin Jr made it 3-0 in the fourth with his team-leading sixth home run of the season, a no-doubt shot down the right field line. Karros hit a two-run shot (5) and Guerrero added a solo homer (4), both in the seventh.

Blake Adams (5-2) piggybacked on Marquez’ start for his first relief appearance of the season after 10 starts. Adams went five shutout innings and allowed five hits and a walk with six strikeouts.