Jason Marquis’ free-fall continued on Monday, as the Cardinals’ pitcher dropped his fourth-straight decision in a 4-3 loss to the Rockies at Busch Stadium. Marquis (3-4) lasted six innings and was charged with all six of the Rockies’ runs.

Brad Hawpe was the first to make Marquis pay. After loading the bases, Marquis gave up a single to Hawpe that brought two runners home. The game remained 2-0 until the third, when Matt Holliday hit the first of his two solo home runs, to give the Rockies a 3-0 advantage.

Hawpe drove in another run in the fifth with a single and Luis Gonzalez followed up with an RBI single too, to push the Rockies’ lead to 5-0. In the seventh, Holliday blasted the first pitch of the inning to left field and Marquis was sent to the showers and a 6-0 deficit.
He surrendered 10 hits and three walks to go with the six runs. He struck out no one.

Since moving to 3-0 on April 17, Marquis’ ERA has risen from 2.79 to 6.00.

The Cardinals avoided a shut out in the eighth inning when Hector Luna singled to right to score So Taguchi. In the ninth, Jim Edmonds hit a sacrifice fly to score Scott Rolen.