Rockies seek series win over skidding Marlins

The Rockies‘ rotation remains a work in progress, but at least Colorado is winning while dealing with the issue

After beating the host Miami Marlins 6-1 on Friday in the series opener, the Rockies will look to clinch the three-game set when the teams meet again on Saturday afternoon. The Rockies are 4-2 since the All-Star break

Colorado’s pitching plans for Saturday were uncertain. Miami plans to start Johnny Cueto (0-1, 9.00 ERA).

On Friday, the Rockies called up Peter Lambert from Triple-A Albuquerque for just his second start of the year, and the right-hander delivered five scoreless innings of three-hit ball

Lambert emerged with his first win as a major league starter since 2019, though he was making just his fourth big-league start in the past four years due in part to injuries. He made 14 relief outings for Colorado earlier this season.

In addition to calling up Lambert, the Rockies demoted right-hander Connor Seabold to the bullpen. Seabold lost each of his past five starts, most recently giving up six runs on six hits in 2 1/3 innings against the New York Yankees on July 15

Seabold is 0-7 with an 8.45 ERA in his past 11 starts, leaving him 1-7 with a 7.18 overall in 20 games (13 starts) this year.

“I gotta be honest,” Seabold said after his latest outing. “I’m hard on myself. I’ve made it known that I’m hard on myself. And today, I didn’t feel like there were many mistakes.

“I don’t know if they’re seeing something that we’re not seeing and they’re taking good hacks off me. The way I pitched the last two outings, my luck should’ve been better.”

With the Rockies having four regular starters on the injured list, Lambert likely earned another start thanks to his Friday performance

“I feel great, I feel strong, I feel healthy,” he said postgame.

Lambert was supported by homers from C.J. Cron, who continued his hot streak, as well as Jurickson Profar and Elias Diaz, who broke out of slumps.

Cron is 7-for-21 (.333) with four homers and eight RBIs in his past five games following a 2-for-5 effort in the opener at Miami.

Profar and Diaz both homered for the first time since June 23. Profar was 4-for-24 (.167) with no RBIs in his previous seven games before going 2-for-5 on Friday. Diaz was 8-for-55 (.146) in 18 games prior to his 2-for-4 performance.

The Marlins fell to 0-7 since the break as they went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position on Friday. They fell behind 6-0 before getting their lone run on a Nick Fortes groundout in the seventh inning

“You’ve just got to change it up somehow, figure out how to get these guys to smile when they’re coming in tomorrow and change the energy a little bit,” Miami manager Skip Schumaker said. “They’ve been really good coming into the ballpark, and they always feel like today’s the day that it’s going to change.

“When I was looking at managers and their reactions, it’s just always been kind of like, ‘We’re going to get through this.’ … We have a lot of games left, and our team feels good.”

Cueto (0-1, 9.00 ERA) is set to make his second appearance and first start since returning from a 3 1/2-month stint on the injured list caused by a biceps ailment. The 37-year-old right-hander threw three scoreless relief innings of one-hit ball against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.

In 19 career starts against the Rockies, Cueto is 10-4 with a 3.01 ERA

–Field Level Media