Hoffman brings the heat for Isotopes

For a pitcher on a strict innings limit, Jeff Hoffman got his money's worth on Sunday.

The Rockies' third-ranked prospect allowed one hit and struck out nine over five innings as Triple-A Albuquerque shut down Colorado Springs, 3-1, at Security Service Field.

Hoffman (6-9) worked around a single in the first and, after issuing a one-out walk to Garin Cecchini in the second, found his groove by striking out five in a row.

"He has the kind of stuff that when he concentrates on executing pitches he can induce some swings and misses. And that's what he did tonight," Isotopes manager Glenallen Hill said. "He just refocused and attacked the strike zone with some quality pitches, and the results were that he struck a bunch of guys out."

Albuquerque gave its starter some run support in the fourth when Rockies No. 5 prospect Raimel Tapia hit a leadoff triple to right field and scored on Mike Tauchman's single. The 22-year-old outfielder has hit safely and scored a run in each of the six games he's played since being called up from Double-A Hartford on Tuesday.

"He has hit at every level and when he got here we understood the type of ability he has," Hill added. "So we thought he was ready to be challenged and it is not surprising to see how he's responded to a new challenge at this level."

Tapia added an RBI triple to left in the fifth, giving MLB.com's No. 82 overall prospect a .444/.464/.741 slash line, five extra-base hits, three RBIs and eight runs scored in the Pacific Coast League.

"He's a guy who doesn't try to do too much," Hill said. "He's just up there trying to square the ball up. He doesn't hit with any ego and has a very polished approach with a two-strike approach. He's a young a kid who has the ability to hit, and the more he plays the more he's going to grow into what he's supposed to be."

Working with a two-run lead, Hoffman continued rolling in the fourth and fifth, setting down six in a row. After giving up six runs on seven hits over 2 2/3 innings against Tacoma on Aug. 1, the 2014 first-round pick has pieced together nine scoreless frames in his last two starts. 

"A lot of people want to just base things on results and not on player development, and progress is not really based on that," Hill said. "He is a guy that part of his player development program at this point of the season is to keep track of his innings, and he was able to go out and did a great job with five quality innings for us."

In 22 starts for the Isotopes, Hoffman sports a 4.02 ERA and 1.36 WHIP with 124 strikeouts over 118 2/3 innings.

Miguel Castro took over for Hoffman and worked a scoreless sixth before giving way to Shane Carle, who struck out two over two innings. Brian Schlitter gave up a run on three hits in the ninth before registering his fourth save. 

Brewers No. 4 prospect Josh Hader (0-5) allowed three runs on six hits and struck out six in six innings. The 22-year-old southpaw has a 5.30 ERA in 11 PCL starts.