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German Marquez Juuse Saros Jersey , like the Colorado Rockies, has been much better on the road than at home this season.

The right-hander will try to pitch the Rockies to another road series win on Thursday afternoon against the Philadelphia Phillies. Vince Velasquez will start for the Phillies in the rubber match of a three-game set at Citizens Bank Park.

Marquez (4-6, 4.79 ERA) has a 7.71 ERA in seven home starts and opponents have a .989 OPS against him at hitter-friendly Coors Field. In six starts on the road, however, Marquez owns a 2.06 ERA, 1.086 WHIP and an .606 opponent on-base-plus-slugging percentage.

Marquez is coming off an especially bad home outing. He gave up three home runs in the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks (one each for Paul Goldschmidt, Jake Lamb and David Peralta) last Friday and was charged with five runs in four innings of work.

“The pitches were up,” Colorado manager Bud Black told mlb.com of Marquez. “You look at the inning he gave up three homers … those are pitches that hitters can elevate. If they square them up, they’re going to go out of the park.”

Marquez Youth Matt Irwin Jersey , 23, has faced the Phillies once. He earned a win by allowing just one run in six innings on May 23, 2017, at Citizens Bank Park.

The Rockies improved their road record to 22-15 with an 7-2 win on Wednesday night in Philadelphia. However, Colorado (33-34) is still under .500 because the team is 11-19 at home.

The Phillies have won 21 of their 33 home games but need a win on Thursday to finish 3-3 on their six-game homestand. Gabe Kapler’s team is 3-8 in June and has not won a series in three weeks.

Velasquez (4-7, 4.95 ERA) pitched in the Phillies’ first game of the homestand, and he had one of the worst starts of his career. The 26-year-old gave up a career-high 10 runs on nine hits in just 3 2/3 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers last Friday. Velasquez’s season ERA jumped up by more than a run in the brief outing.

“When he came out, the velocity was down a little bit,” Kapler told mlb.com after Velasquez’s last start. “The stuff didn’t quite look crisp coming out of his hand. We were talking about it on the bench and wondering if he just wasn’t going to have his stuff.”

Velasquez is 1-0 with a 4.35 ERA in four career starts against the Rockies. He has 23 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings against the team.

Velasquez will have to deal with a red-hot Trevor Story on Thursday. Colorado’s shortstop extended his hitting streak to seven games on Wednesday night with a 3-for-5 performance that featured two doubles and two RBIs.

Story has had five straight multi-hit games and is hitting .467 during the seven-game streak. The third-year major leaguer has raised his batting average by 27 points and his OPS by 68 points in the last week.

Giants closer Hunter Strickland broke his pitching hand punching a door in frustration after blowing the save and taking the loss in a 5-4 defeat to the Miami Marlins on Monday night.

The right-hander had surgery Tuesday and expected to be out six to eight weeks Roman Josi Jersey , manager Bruce Bochy said. An X-ray after the game revealed the break of Strickland’s pinkie, similar to what sidelined lefty ace Madison Bumgarner to begin the season after he was hurt in his final spring training start.

”I’m thoroughly disappointed, trust me. I’m crushed because this guy had just grown as a pitcher and a player and a person,” Bochy said. ”But I know Hunter, he cares. He cares deeply. He let his emotions get away … he had a temporary snap.”

Strickland blew his fourth save in 17 chances and second straight, allowing more than two runs for only the fourth time in his career.

He posted an apology on Instagram and Twitter.

”Life has an interesting and sometimes disappointing way of opening up our eyes,” Strickland wrote. ”Words cannot describe the amount of regret and sorrow I have for my actions. I have let down the ones that care and mean the most, as well as the ones that count on me day in and day out. To my family, my teammates Viktor Arvidsson Jersey , my coaches, this organization, and our fan base, I am truly sorry that one split second, stupid decision has caused so much harm and now set me back from being out there with my team to pursue our goal.”

Bochy said Strickland had shown maturity and made progress keeping his emotions in check since last year’s fight with Nationals star Bryce Harper.

”I think he did it when he came out of the game but we didn’t know about it,” Bochy said. ”I didn’t know about it until I got home.”

In late May last year, Strickland ignited an all-out brawl when he beaned Harper with a 98 mph fastball on his first pitch in the eighth inning with two outs, none on and Washington ahead 2-0. Harper charged the mound and both men threw punches as benches and bullpens emptied.

”As he became our closer he really grew as a pitcher handling his emotions well in tight situations, which you have to. You have to be able to control your emotions Justin Braun Jersey Kids ,” Bochy said. ”I’ve talked about this so much, how important it is for players but particularly the closer’s got to have emotional control. We all get frustrated and that was a tough loss, a gut-wrenching loss which I’m sure he felt full responsibility for it and he just didn’t think before he acted.”

Sam Dyson and Tony Watson will be called upon for closing duties, with one getting most of the opportunities though Bochy didn’t reveal which one that would be. The manager doesn’t consider Mark Melancon – signed to a $62 million, four-year deal before last season to work the ninth – ready for the role after a series of injuries.

”Your closer is somebody who has to be resilient and I’m not sure that Mark’s at that stage right now,” Bochy said.

Right-hander Pierce Johnson was on his way from Triple-A Sacramento to take Strickland’s roster spot.

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