Rockies-Twins in surprising first-place matchup

New kids on the block

Two of baseball’s biggest surprises square off when the Colorado Rockies visit Minnesota in an interleague matchup of first-place teams.

Ervin Santana (6-1, 1.50 ERA) starts for the Twins against rookie German Marquez (1-2, 4.88). Both pitchers are coming off excellent outings – Santana threw two-hit ball for seven shutout innings at Cleveland, and Marquez limited the World Series champion Cubs to three hits in eight scoreless innings.

The 22-year-old Marquez took a no-hitter into the seventh against Chicago and even had a two-run single for his first major league hit.