Major League Baseball

Miami rookie Urena earns 1st win as Marlins beat Rockies 5-1

Published Jun. 12, 2015 10:12 p.m. ET

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MIAMI (AP) His work done for the night, Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Urena skipped off the mound with the footwork of a colt. It was the only time he looked like a rookie.

The 23-year-old right-hander pitched into the seventh inning for his first major league victory, and the Marlins supported him with some slugging to beat the Colorado Rockies 5-1 Friday night.

''It's a great feeling,'' Urena said through a translator. ''It's hard to describe. It's what every pitcher goes out there looking to accomplish.''

The Marlins hit two home runs, neither by major league leader Giancarlo Stanton, and nearly had a third.

Rookie catcher J.T. Realmuto hit a three-run homer, and Martin Prado had a solo shot. Marcell Ozuna's two-run drive was wiped out by a replay review that determined the ball hooked foul into the stands, so he settled five pitches later for an RBI single.

Stanton had a single and a double and scored a run.

The Rockies lost their third game in a row and have totaled one run in the first two games of the series.

''We're having a hard time stringing hits together,'' manager Walt Weiss said.

Urena (1-2) dominated in his fourth major league start, allowing six hits and no walks in 6 2-3 innings.

''He just challenged in the strike zone pitch after pitch,'' Marlins manager Dan Jennings said. ''He pitched aggressively. He has no fear.''

Urena took a shutout into the seventh before Carlos Gonzalez hit his seventh homer, ending a string of 17 consecutive scoreless innings for Colorado.

Urena limited the Rockies to one run in six innings last week but did not get a decision. He was considered a stopgap replacement when he joined the Marlins' injury-riddled rotation, but may prove tough to dislodge, even with three starters expected to return in the next few weeks.

''We'll cross that bridge when we get there,'' Jennings said. ''Right now Urena is in that rotation, and somebody will have to knock him out. He has earned the right to get that opportunity every fifth day.''

Said Urena: ''I don't have any doubts in my abilities.''

Kyle Kendrick (2-8) allowed only two runs in 6 2-3 innings, but moved into a tie for the major league lead in losses. He fell to 14-4 in 28 games against the Marlins.

Miami's Dee Gordon went 1 for 4 to retain his lead in the major league batting race over the Rockies' DJ LeMahieu, who also went 1 for 4. Gordon is hitting .355, LeMahieu .349.

Ozuna's single in the fourth extended his hitting streak to 13 games and gave Miami a 1-0 lead.

Prado went sprawling when he ducked out of the way of a high-and-inside fastball from Kendrick, and then hit the next pitch for a homer to make it 2-0 in the sixth.

Realmuto's third homer came off Scott Oberg and followed a pair of walks in the eighth.

Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the fourth.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Marlins ace Jose Fernandez (elbow) pitched five scoreless innings in his second rehab start for Class A Jupiter.

UP NEXT

Marlins RHP Mat Latos, sidelined since May 21 with left knee inflammation, is scheduled to start Saturday against Rockies RHP David Hale.

Latos is 1-4 with a 6.12 ERA, and the Marlins' depleted rotation is a combined 17-23. Fernandez, Jarred Cosart and Henderson Alvarez are all expected to return from injuries in the next month.

''We've got to get the pitching right, myself included,'' Latos said. ''We have guys who can do it.''

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