MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Germán Márquez pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings and the Colorado Rockies edged the Twins 1-0 Friday night in a rare trip to Minnesota.
Charlie Blackmon’s run-scoring fielder’s choice was the difference for the Rockies, who snapped a three-game skid.
Márquez (4-5) had a season high in innings and season low in runs in winning his third straight decision as Colorado bounced back from a three-game sweep in Miami.
“I haven’t lost my confidence,” Márquez said of his recent improvement after holding a 6.71 ERA through his first 10 starts. “It feels good, man. It feels good to win this game like this.”
Daniel Bard relieved Márquez with runners on first and third in the eighth and got an inning-ending groundout. He finished out his 15th save in 17 chances with a perfect ninth as the Rockies notched their first shutout of the season.
“We haven’t done that in a while, so pretty cool,” Bard said of the shutout. “He was unbelievable. He’s been building up, I don’t know, the last three or four. You’ve seen it, solid starts after solid starts. Tonight, was just dominance like we’ve seen in the past from me.”
Connor Joe had a pair of hits and scored a run for Colorado, which is playing in Minnesota for just the fourth time in franchise history and the first since 2017.
Dylan Bundy (4-4) allowed a run in six innings for the Twins, giving up four hits and two walks. Minnesota was shut out for the 10th time in 72 games this season, one night after shutting out Cleveland.
“It’s a significant amount, but the last few times I can sit here and think of how many balls we absolutely got into,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of the 10 shutouts. “If we weren’t hitting balls hard, if it was just a quiet, soft exit to the…