Rockies at Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates will try to follow up a winning road trip with more success at home when they welcome the Colorado Rockies on Monday for the first of three games. A 7-3 win at Miami on Sunday gave the Pirates a 4-2 trip and sent them back home atop the National League Central at 11-4, a surprising mark given the team's dramatic roster turnover this offseason.
Starling Marte carried Pittsburgh on Sunday with a 5-for-5 effort that included a ninth-inning homer and four runs scored. Josh Bell added three hits and Corey Dickerson was 2-for-4 with two RBIs while extending his hitting streak to 10 games for the Pirates. The Rockies got a two-out homer from Ian Desmond in the ninth inning to pick up a 6-5 win in Washington on Sunday, improving to 7-4 on the road. Colorado right-hander German Marquez was ejected after three innings in his previous start for participating in a brawl with the San Diego Padres, and he'll get a chance to go deeper in this one opposite Steven Brault for the Pirates.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Colorado), AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies RH German Marquez (0-1, 4.97 ERA) vs. Pirates LH Steven Brault (2-0, 3.46)
Marquez tossed three scoreless innings while striking out four before the fight with the Padres, during which he was spotted throwing a towel. The 23-year-old from Venezuela issued 10 walks while fanning just six through his previous two starts. Marquez went 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two starts against the Pirates last season.
Brault won his first two outings this season - one as a starter and one in relief - before struggling at Wrigley Field on Wednesday. The California native was reached for four runs on seven hits in five innings of that game while getting a no-decision in a game the Pirates would lose 13-5. Brault allowed two runs in an inning of relief in his only prior encounter with the Rockies.
WALK-OFFS
1. Pirates 2B Josh Harrison left Sunday's game after being hit by a pitch on his left hand and is day-to-day.
2. Rockies CF Charlie Blackmon is 3-for-8 with two homers and a double in two games since returning from a quadriceps injury.
3. The teams split six meetings last season.