Denver, CO – Despite being far away from Miami, Giancarlo Stanton looks awfully comfortable in Colorado.
Stanton homered for the sixth straight game at Coors Field and the Miami Marlins held on for a 6-5 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Stanton, with his three-run blast in the first, became the first player in major league history to homer in each of his first six games in an opposing ballpark.
"Any time you do something that no one has ever done in the big leagues, it's something pretty cool," Stanton said.
With Stanton's support, Nathan Eovaldi (4-8) cruised to the win. The right- hander held the Rockies to one run on six hits and four walks with three strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.
Tyler Chatwood (3-3), who had only allowed two earned runs in three starts coming into Saturday, was shelled for six runs in four innings. He gave up nine hits and a walk to go along with three strikeouts.
Tyler Colvin drove in three runs in a losing effort, as the Rockies have lost two of three to begin this four-game set.
Miami wasted no time going ahead in the first inning. Bryan Petersen, Gorkys Hernandez and Jose Reyes strung together three singles to score a run and put the Marlins up, 1-0.
After Carlos Lee lined out to left field, Stanton, a night after pulverizing a 494-foot blast to center field, crushed a 1-0 fastball 465 feet, over the left-field bleachers, to expand the Marlins' lead to four.
Miami tacked on two more in the second after Eovaldi and Petersen picked up one-out singles. Two batters later, Reyes smacked a triple down the left-field line, which was misplayed by Eric Young Jr. in foul ground, to run the Marlins' lead to six.
Colorado picked up a run in the fourth inning after Dexter Fowler walked and Michael Cuddyer singled to start the inning. After Wilin Rosario flew out, Colvin lined a double to center field to plate Fowler.
With Eovaldi out of the game, Colorado charged back to put a scare into Miami.
The Rockies rallied for two runs in the eighth. Chad Gaudin, who recorded the last out in the seventh, walked Rosario and gave up hits to Colvin and Jordan Pacheco to start the inning and plate a run for the Rockies. Heath Bell entered with runners on second and third and no outs, but only yielded a sacrifice fly to Chris Nelson to escape the jam with a three-run lead.
In the ninth, Fowler lined a one-out single and advanced to third on Rosario's two-out base hit. After Rosario advanced to second on a defensive indifference, Colvin singled up the middle to score two and close within a run. But Steve Cishek retired Pacheco to end the rally, close out the win and pick up his ninth save.
"We put together a good offensive eighth inning and had the winning run standing at home plate in the ninth inning," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "We got ourselves in a position where we had a chance to win the game."
Game Notes
Before the game Colorado placed outfielder Carlos Gonzalez on the bereavement list and recalled outfielder Charlie Blackmon from Triple-A Colorado Springs ... Stanton became the first player to homer in six straight games in an opposing park since Travis Hafner did so at Tropicana Field in 2007 ... Eovaldi was 0-2 with a 6.52 earned run average in two career starts against the Rockies coming into Saturday ... The Marlins went 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.