Jeff Hoffman dominates Padres, Rockies retake sole possession of first place

Jeff Hoffman is going to make this very difficult on the Colorado Rockies brain trust. Called up to make his third spot start of the season, Hoffman was stupendous yet again, earning his third win in three chances, at times making the San Diego Padres look silly in a 3-1 Rockies win.

The first real scoring opportunity for either team came in the top of the fourth. DJ LeMahieu began things by lining a single to right (his specialty) on a 3-2 pitch and after Nolan Arenado struck out, Mark Reynolds hit a double down the right-field line to give the Rockies runners at second and third with one out.

Gerardo Parra hit a swinging bunt to the right of the mound and LeMahieu went on contact, getting thrown out easily at home plate to keep the game scoreless. But Ian Desmond walked to load the bases with two outs for Trevor Story, who famously struggled to begin this season.

But Story was locked in from the beginning of the at-bat. He worked a full count, really might have walked in a run if not for a borderline call on a check-swing, stayed back, stayed calm, and hit a fastball back up the middle after narrowly missing a couple, driving in the first two runs of the game with a single.

Tony Wolters followed that up with an RBI groundball single of his own to make it 3-0, Rockies.

Colorado looked like they were going to bust out with a huge inning their next time up in the top of the fifth, loading the bases with nobody out with a single from Charlie Blackmon and walks by LeMahieu and Arenado. But Reynolds lined out to short and Parra grounded into a double play to halt the rally in its tracks before any runs were scored.

Hunter Renfroe led off the bottom of that fifth inning and immediately made the Rockies regret how the top of the frame ended, launching his 11th home run of the season into orbit. Seriously, it’s still up there. There is no video evidence the ball ever came down.

Like Tyler Chatwood on Saturday, Hoffman made just the one mistake.

Franchy Cordero singled to right after the home run, the Rockies rookie (no, the other one) then went on to sit down nine straight.

His final line: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K. Once again, Hoffman was simply fantastic and may have even earned himself another start this time. In his last two outings, he has pitched 14 innings, given up two runs, struck out 16 batters and hasn’t walked a single one.

The Colorado Rockies are truly bursting at the seams with outstanding young pitching with the potential to get even better.

The Rockies loaded the bases again in the eighth, which necessitated a pinch-hitter for Hoffman or he might have gone further, and again couldn’t get a run out of the situation. They left 11 men on base in this one but it didn’t end up mattering because their pitching has just been that good.

Jake McGee pitched a smooth 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, continuing his remarkable stretch of pitching and lowering his ERA to 1.59. McGee has been especially integral with Mike Dunn struggling and Adam Ottavino out, luckily for the Rockies, he has gotten even better over the last few weeks.

Greg Holland remains the very best reliever in all of baseball, recording his 21st save (in 21 opportunities) without breaking a sweat. He sat down the Padres in order like he was ordering carry-out.

Colorado moved to 36-23 on the season, and with Los Angeles and Arizona both losing today, have reclaimed sole possession of first place in the National League West. They have played 10 road series and have still yet to lose one.