Citizens Bank Park will play host to a Thursday afternoon clash between the Colorado Rockies and Philadelphia Phillies. Last night, Ian Desmond connected on a two-run blast as part of a five-run fourth inning during a 7-2 Colorado victory. The Rockies are a game below .500 overall and trail Arizona by four games for the NL West Division lead.
Twenty-three year old German Marquez (4-6 4.79 ERA) will take the mound for the Rockies in this matchup. Colorado has lost consecutive games started by Marquez and he has allowed nine runs over his last ten frames.
The Philadelphia Phillies have won 21 of their first 33 home games and defeated Colorado by a 5-4 final score in Tuesday night’s series opener. On Wednesday, SP Nick Pivetta (4-6) was tagged for eight hits and six runs over five frames. Scott Kingery struck out in all four of his at-bats for the Phillies, who are three games above .500 overall.
Hard-throwing righty Vince Velasquez (4-7 4.95 ERA) will look to bounce back from a rough outing last time out. Velasquez was tagged for ten earned runs and recorded just 11 outs during a 12-4 loss versus Milwaukee.
