AP News
(2009-07-19 22:50:01)
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Jason Marquis became Major League Baseball's first 12-game winner this season when he led the Colorado Rockies to a 6-1 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday.
Marquis (12-6), in addition to a strong eight innings on the mound, drove in two runs with a double in a four-run sixth inning.
"I haven't swung a bat in the past week or so with the All-Star break, and I hadn't taken (batting practice) this road trip yet," Marquis told reporters. "I felt good, and I just tried to see it and hit it as hard as I could."
The All-Star right-hander struck out three and walked none while giving up five hits and one run.
"When he starts throwing strikes early in the count and gets the opposition swinging, the ball starts getting hit on the ground (and) he gets a lot of easy outs," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said.
"This is when Jason Marquis is at his best, and he was today."
Ian Stewart and Brad Hawpe also hit solo home runs for Colorado, who won for the seventh time in 10 games.
Stewart gave the Rockies a 2-0 lead with his fourth-inning homer and Hawpe made it 3-0 with his blast in the sixth.
The win spoiled the Major League pitching debut of 21-year-old Padres rookie Mat Latos (0-1), who gave up three hits and two runs in four innings. He struck out four and walked one.
"There's no questioning the fastball and the arm that the kid has," Tracy said. "He's got a very powerful arm. When he starts to get to the point where he commands his secondary pitches, he's going to be a tough customer."
San Diego scored its lone run in the seventh off a sacrifice fly by Kevin Kouzmanoff.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
