But there's Eddie Butler, holding Pioneer League opponents in check, much the same as he did a few months ago in college.

The Rockies prospect allowed five hits over six shutout innings Friday night as Rookie-level Grand Junction coasted to an 11-3 rout of Ogden.

Selected 46th overall in this year's Draft, Butler (5-1) walked two batters and struck out four. It was the third time in his last four starts he hasn't given up a run.

"My sinker was mainly working and the defense behind me played real well, made four double plays tonight, so that was definitely good," Butler said. "I was happy with tonight, definitely."

The 21-year-old right-hander's early Minor League numbers bear some resemblance to those he posted as a junior at Radford University, where he was named Big South Pitcher of the Year.

At Radford, he put up a 2.20 ERA in 98 innings, walking 23 while striking out 95. In his first 39 innings as a pro, he ranks second in the league with a 2.31 ERA and has fanned 31 against only four walks.

Butler gave up eight runs on 15 hits over his first 14 innings while adjusting to the difference between gripping a college ball, which has more pronounced seams.

"The seam difference [made it hard] to get the same movement," he said. "On the college baseball, the seams are raised really high and on the pro ball there's almost no seams, so manipulating the movement is a lot harder.

"I had to change the grip on my changeup a little bit, push it farther in my hand to slow it down."

Since working out the kinks in that key offering, he felt a lot more comfortable and started experiencing the kind of success he'd gotten used to in college.

"I tinkered with it a lot, especially in long toss, to be able to throw it with the movement I'm used to on it. Now it's a complete 180 from where it was, when it was flat. Now I'm getting the depth to it," he said.

The results have been obvious. Since July 12, he's given up three runs on 19 hits over 25 innings in winning his last four starts.

"I think [overall] the transition has been pretty smooth," said Butler. "Tonight I walked two, and that kind of eats at me a little bit. But I'll get over it."

Julian Yan and Wilfredo Rodriguez both homered and drove in three runs for the Rockies, while Jeffrey Popick went 3-for-4 with three RBIs.