Marlins crush at Coors, hold on after long delay
DENVER -- Giancarlo Stanton hit the longest home run at Coors Field this season, J.T. Realmuto had a career-high four hits and Tom Koehler continued his Coors mastery as the Marlins won for the fifth time in seven games, 6-2, over the Rockies on Friday night.
The game was delayed before the eighth for an hour and 55 minutes before play resumed, adding to the weather-related craziness at Coors this season. Eight games have been delayed a total of 14 hours, 29 minutes -- and that's not including delays involved in the four dates that were postponed.
Video: MIA@COL: Denver rainstorms causes near two-hour delay
Stanton launched his 18th homer of the season -- a solo shot for a 3-0 lead in the third inning off Rockies rookie starter Eddie Butler (3-6), who gave up six runs and 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings. Statcast™ projected the homer to have landed 478 feet away -- one foot longer than the Dodgers' Joc Pederson's shot on Wednesday.
"Giancarlo got that one off the end, so I wouldn't even call that one a big home run," Koehler joked.
Realmuto went 4-for-4, with singles in the second, fourth and eighth innings and a triple to lead off the fifth.
With the obvious exception of the Stanton homer -- "When you throw a guy a pitch like that right down the middle, he's going to hit it hard," Butler said -- many of the hits were soft ones. Butler, who had shown improvement in his two previous starts, said he left himself open for that by not locating his secondary pitches.
"I'm attacking the zone, but a few pitches weren't quality strikes," Butler said. "But I still have my confidence. It was maybe a step sideways, but definitely not back."
Koehler (4-3) held the Rockies to one run, scattering eight hits and striking out six in seven innings. In three career starts at Coors, Koehler is 2-0 with 2.14 ERA, and he has a 1.93 ERA against the Rockies in four starts. Koehler held the Rox hitless until the fourth and scoreless until Troy Tulowitzki's RBI single in the sixth.
Video: MIA@COL: Koehler fans six over seven stellar frames
"We're playing good baseball, and as long as we go out there and compete for 27 outs and stay in it, we're going to be OK," Koehler said. "We just can't hurt ourselves -- can't make the mistakes that end up coming back and hurting us. That's what we were doing when we were really struggling, and right now, we're limiting those."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Rox rally fizzles: Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez singled to put runners at the corners with two down in the fourth for Nolan Arenado, who had driven in 18 runs in his previous 11 games. Koehler fell behind 2-0 on offspeed pitches, but pumped a 94-mph fastball that Arenado popped foul to first baseman Justin Bour near the Rockies' dugout.
The talk is Real-muto: Marlins manager Dan Jennings already said Realmuto will remain the starting catcher, even with Jeff Mathis once again healthy, but Miami's rookie catcher sure shored up that decision in the series opener. He entered Friday night hitting .172 in his last 15 games, but Realmuto used all three parts of the field for his four hits.
Video: MIA@COL: Realmuto's perfect night at the plate
"You've watched him grow as a two-way guy behind that plate," Jennings said. "Certainly, his impact calling the game and what he can do defensively, and then he's had good at-bats really all year. He went through a little spell there, but tonight was a huge night for him."
Working out of it: Leading, 6-1, in the seventh, Koehler worked himself into a jam with two outs. Singles from Ben Paulsen, Brandon Barnes and Wilin Rosario loaded the bases, which flipped the lineup card over and brought out pitching coach Chuck Hernandez. But Koehler then got ahead of leadoff man Charlie Blackmon and coaxed him into a harmless grounder to second, ending the frame with no damage inflicted.
Video: MIA@COL: Koehler escapes bases-loaded jam in 7th
INJURY UPDATES
While trying to field a Blackmon grounder in the sixth inning, Dee Gordon's left foot got stuck in the dirt, and his ankle turned awkwardly. Marlins trainers tended to Gordon in shallow right field, while the grounds crew did some work on the dirt area where he slipped. Gordon did manage to stay in the game.
QUOTABLE
"We know how important it is to win here. We've been playing better, but we need to pick it up this homestand." -- Rockies manager Walt Weiss, whose team has won nine of its last 13 games but is 2-3 midway through a 10-game homestand, and 10-16 this season at home
"I like the forest green. It's my favorite backdrop." -- Stanton, on the batter's eye at Coors Field, where he now has eight home runs in 15 career games
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
The Marlins broke a tie 23 years in the making. Both teams debuted in 1993, and Friday night's victory gave the franchise 1,666 regular-season wins. The Rockies finished the night at 1,665. The Marlins have played four fewer games, so they have 1,885 losses to Colorado's 1,890.
WHAT'S NEXT
Marlins: Back-to-back starts in late May saw David Phelps yield a combined eight runs in 11 innings, but he rebounded with a productive outing -- two earned runs over six frames -- in his last start. Phelps, who spent the last three years with the Yankees, will make his second career appearance at Coors Field on Saturday at 4:10 p.m. ET.
Rockies: Weiss adjusted his rotation for extra rest for righty Kyle Kendrick and lefty Jorge De La Rosa. So lefty Chris Rusin (1-0, 0.77 ERA), who has pitched well in a spot start and in a injury-induced relief appearance, will get the call Saturday.
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