Rockies @ Padres

Who will WIN this matchup?

Colorado Rockies (38-51)

@ San Diego Padres (53-38)

Starting Pitchers:

Marquez (COL): 7-6; 3.59 ERA

Musgrove (SD) 5-6; 2.97 ERA

Current odds:

Colorado Rockies: (+165)

San Diego Padres: (-180)

• Every struggling ballclub has a couple of players who draw interest as Major League Baseball’s trade deadline approaches. One of those players is Colorado right-handed pitcher German Marquez, but manager Bud Black is emphatic: “Marquez is not going anywhere.” Well, Marquez (7-6, 3.59 ERA) will go to the mound Saturday night in San Diego to oppose Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove (5-6, 2.97) in the penultimate game of the first half of the season.

• Considering Colorado’s 38-51 overall record and pathetic 7-34 mark on the road, Marquez’s record stands out. It is easy to see why a number of contenders are interested in the 26-year-old pitcher. The Rockies are 11-7 in Marquez’s 18 starts. That is 29 percent of the Rockies wins. The Rockies have won eight of the past 10 games Marquez has started, including the past four (Marquez is 3-0 in those games).

• Plus, Marquez is a workhorse. He has thrown 105 1/3 innings and an MLB-leading three complete games. He has given up 44 runs (42 earned) on 83 hits and 41 walks with 105 strikeouts — or 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings. He was selected for his first All-Star Game, Tuesday at his home park in Denver. Perhaps his most impressive statistic: He is 6-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 12 starts at hitter-happy Coors Field this season. Yes, there is a flip side: Marquez is only 1-5 with a 4.67 ERA in six road starts this season.

• He is in his sixth MLB season and has a 49-36 record and a 4.15 ERA. That is going to bring a lot of interest as the July 30 trade deadline approaches. Marquez will face the Padres for the first time this season. He has a 5-3 career record against San Diego with a 5.14 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings.

• Meanwhile, Musgrove will make his second start as a Padre against the Rockies. And his first was a gem. On May 19 in San Diego, Musgrove shut out the Rockies on two hits over seven innings with no walks and 11 strikeouts. That was Musgrove’s second-best outing of the season, topped only by the first no-hitter in Padres history on April 9 against the Rangers in Texas.

• Musgrove hasn’t been as sharp recently. He has only one win since that May 19 blitz of the Rockies. He has given up five runs in each of his past two starts — a total of 10 runs — to the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals on 11 hits and four walks with seven strikeouts over nine innings. He also served up three home runs in those two games combined.

• Those two starts caused his ERA to rise three-quarters of a run. But his season numbers remain strong — a career-best 0.915 WHIP and a .185 opponents’ batting average. Musgrove has given up 34 runs (31 earned) on 63 hits and 23 walks with 110 strikeouts in 94 innings – or 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings