German Marquez struck out the first eight batters he faced Wednesday night at Coors Field.
And Marquez, and the Rockies, were just getting started.
By the time their 14-0 victory over the Phillies was complete, strikeouts, history, four home runs and mounting playoff expectations had converged to create a perfect baseball storm in LoDo.
Marquez, a 23-year-old right-hander, not only set a franchise record for strikeouts to begin a game, he tied a modern-day major-league record. What’s more, by the time Marquez’s seven scoreless innings were in the books, he had fanned 11, setting a franchise record for strikeouts in a season with 221.