Rockies right-hander Germán Márquez calls his problem “just a little thing,” one he will correct. But Wednesday night became a big mess because of that small flaw in what is the fine workmanship of a Major League pitching delivery.

After taking their first road win of the season on Tuesday night, the Rockies were leaning on Márquez against the Giants as they looked for their first road series win and their third consecutive series win overall. But in the second inning, Márquez walked in two runs -- twice as many bases-loaded free passes as he had issued in his previous 114 Major League games -- and he yielded four total runs in a 7-3 loss at Oracle Park.

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Márquez, the Rockies’ Opening Day starter and their most effective pitcher over the past four seasons, had managed a 3.45 ERA in five previous starts despite not being his sharpest. The delivery issue usually affected his fastball from the stretch. In the second inning on Wednesday, he could not throw any pitch for a strike with runners on base.

“To me, control has been bad all year,” Márquez said. “So, I just have to keep working on my delivery from the stretch. I don’t want to get bad [thoughts] through my mind. I want to keep working on that, and the results will be coming out pretty soon.”

Maybe it finally gets done in the side session before Márquez’s next start, which will likely be Monday at home against the Giants -- a team that has been part of high and low moments for the righty.

On April 14, 2019, Márquez didn’t give up a hit until the eighth inning and pitched a one-hit shutout at San Francisco. But on July 15, 2019, Márquez gave up 11 runs in 2 2/3 innings against the Giants at Coors Field. Wednesday night’s struggles left his career ERA against the Giants at 5.67 -- but 15 of the 42 earned runs came in two games.

Really, though, the Giants had almost nothing to do with Márquez’s problems in this outing. They did much of their damage without swinging -- not only against Márquez, but against a Colorado staff that walked nine. Yency Almonte walked in one of the three runs he allowed in the seventh, after the Rockies had cut the deficit to 4-2 in the top of the inning. Colorado's three bases-loaded walks tied a team record.

Márquez threw 31 pitches and walked three in the second. The free passes went to Darin Ruf, Curt Casali (who entered with a .143 average) and Tommy La Stella, after Márquez also had trouble finding the plate against Giants pitcher Alex Wood. Brandon Belt’s two-run single put San Francisco ahead, 4-0.

One reason the Rockies love Márquez is that he usually finds a way to keep the team in the game, even if he’s not sharp. In fact, he made it through four innings while the offense was trying to figure out Wood.

So there were silver linings, but Márquez -- whose fastball velocity and breaking action were as normal, even if his control and command were missing -- will have to correct delivery flaws to keep from weathering a storm of walks and runs.

“There have been games where he’s had a difficult inning and has found a way to minimize the damage,” said Rockies manager Bud Black, who added that Márquez also needs to use his changeup slightly more than he has. “Tonight, it didn’t happen.”

Black, however, saw Wednesday as an outlier, calling the problems “a little bit more exaggerated” than the ones that Márquez has been fighting through since Cactus League play.

“He was a little quick with the left shoulder, not getting great extension that inning,” Black said. “It looked as though his stride was a little short. He was just sort of popping up, not really getting down to the mound. That created balls out of the strike zone. Fastball command left him because of that quickness.

“With that lack of extension, we saw three walks. We saw balls with the fastball, and balls with the slider.”

The Rockies begin a four-game series at Arizona on Thursday night, trying to improve an alarming 1-8 road record -- all games against other National League West teams, as they're 1-5 at the Giants and 0-3 at the Dodgers. Sometime during the series in Phoenix, Márquez will try to find his form and get ready to unleash it against the Giants on Monday.

“That little thing, I’m going to fix it pretty soon, working on my side [session], working while playing catch,” Márquez said. “It’s going to come out pretty well.

“Physically, I feel really nice. But I have to figure out the little thing that’s going to make me be good.”