Ryan McMahon pumped his fist, German Marquez let loose with a roar and Michael Toglia flashed a little kid’s grin. Good times. Then it all fell apart. In the second inning, the Rockies pulled off the fifth triple play in franchise history. But the Rockies blew a 3-0 lead and lost 7-4 to the Athlet ics on Saturday night at Coors Field. Colorado has lost six straight and opened the season 1-7, tying the 2005 club for the worst eight-game start in franchise history. The gory details are coming, but first, the highlight reel. Marquez walked Shea Langeliers to open the second inning, and Tyler Soderstrom reached first on an infield single. Then, Jacob Wilson hit a hard one-hopper to McMahon at third, who stepped on the bag and fired to second baseman Kyle Farmer, who threw hard to Toglia at first, beating Wilson by a step. “It was a one-hopper right to me and I took a step toward the bag,” McMahon said, explaining that he’d never been part of a triple play at any level. “At worst, I thought we would get two outs. I made a throw to Farmer and he turned it real quick and made a great throw to Toglia.” It was the first triple play in the majors this season and the Rockies’ first triple play in almost a decade. The last time Colorado pulled it off was on Sept. 1, 2015, at Coors Field when shortstop Jose Reyes, second baseman DJ LeMahieu and first baseman Ben Paulsen pulled off the three-out play on a grounder by Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. Following Saturday’s three-for-one special, Sean Bouchard hit a two-run homer to left in the bottom of the frame. Colorado added another run in the third. Then the game unraveled. Marquez, so sharp in his first start of the season at Philadelphia (six scoreless innings, four hits, no walks and four strikeouts), lost his edge. He walked six in five-plus innings, including two leadoff walks. The veteran right-hander was charged with four runs (three earned) on five hits. He struck out three. “I wish I could put a finger on it, but I can’t,” manager Bud Black said. “I don’t know whether, as the game went on, he lost feel because of the cold night, but it seemed like he couldn’t get his breaking ball to consistently break.” It marked the third time in his career that Marquez walked six batters, the second time he struggled with walks during a cold-weather game. He also issued six walks in the home opener against the Braves when it snowed and the first-pitch temperature was 37 degrees. The temperature for the first pitch on Saturday night was 41 degrees. “I couldn’t feel the ball,” Marquez said, trying to explain his lack of command. “The first inning was good, but then I couldn’t feel (the ball).” Two free passes haunted Marquez in the sixth inning when the A’s took a 4-3 lead. He walked JJ Bleday and Langeliers, setting up Soderstrom’s run-scoring double to right. Out came Marquez, and in came righty reliever Jimmy Herget, who promptly served up a two-run double to left by Wilson. The A’s salted away the game with a three-run seventh against Colorado left-hander Scott Alexander. Brent Rooker hit a solo home run 425 feet to center, and Langeliers followed with a two-run, 429-foot blast to center. Alexander is a sinkerball pitcher and Black said he didn’t keep the ball down in the zone. Colorado staged a mini-rally in the eighth with a solo homer by Ryan McMahon, followed by a single by Kris Bryant and a walk by Michael Toglia off A’s right-hander Tyler Ferguson. But Farmer’s drive to deep right was hauled in by Lawrence Butler. The clubs face off again Sunday afternoon, with the Rockies trying to avoid their second straight three-game sweep.   ...read more read less