Jeff Hoffman worked his way out of an early jam, with an assist from manager Bud Black in the form of a stern mound visit.
Hoffman weathered a tough second to pitch five solid innings and laid down a bunt single that drove in a key run as the Colorado Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 on Wednesday night.
“(Black) just kind of told me that this is that moment during the game where I’ve been getting bit by the big inning,” said Hoffman, who limited the damage after giving up four consecutive hits to start the second. “It’s nothing more than getting the guy that’s in front of me and then getting the next guy. It wasn’t any magical words or anything like that. It was just, leave it right here. Take a step, take a deep breath and go get them.”
The straightforward approach helped Hoffman snap a five-game losing streak dating back to July 21, 2017.
“I thought Jeff battled really well,” said teammate Scott Oberg, who pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save since 2016. “Things could have taken a different turn in the second inning and he kind of put a stop to it.”
Brendan Rodgers had a two-run single and Trevor Story added three hits for the Rockies, who won their season-high fourth in a row at home and clinched a series win in the four-game set.
Carson Kelly homered and singled to drive in two runs for the Diamondbacks. Adam Jones also went deep and rookie Kevin Cron doubled twice and scored a run.
Hoffman (1-1) allowed three runs and seven hits, helping the Rockies get back to the .500 mark at 27-27. He struck out six and walked two.
Oberg, filling in for injured closer Wade Davis, got three outs for his third career save.
“We’ve played overall, the last month, good baseball,” Black said. “I think we still haven’t found our stride in the rotation. I think that’s coming and that will help us continue this upward push, but we’ve got to stay on it.”
Robbie Ray (4-2) gave up five runs — four earned — in 4 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out six as his four-game winning streak ended.
Arizona pulled within a run in the fifth on Jones’ two-out solo shot off Hoffman into the left field bleachers.
Colorado added a run in the bottom half on reliever Stefan Crichton’s errant pickoff throw to first, which allowed Nolan Arenado to score from third. But the Diamondbacks again got within a run on Kelly’s homer in the sixth off reliever Seunghwan Oh.
Trailing 2-1 going into the bottom of the fourth, the Rockies drew three consecutive walks from Ray to start the inning and all three scored.
“Obviously, that fourth inning got out of control,” Ray said. “Man, I don’t know what happened. The third inning was pretty dominant; I felt really good. I felt like everything was clicking, and then all of a sudden, it was gone. Baseball’s a funny sport. I don’t know if I’ve ever had that happen where you walk three guys in a row with absolutely non-competitive pitches.”
Rodgers singled to drive in a pair of runs and Hoffman had a two-out bunt single, scoring Ian Desmond from third as the Rockies moved in front 4-2.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: RHP Taylor Clarke (1-1, 2.93 ERA) is set to make his third career start in Thursday’s series finale. Clarke earned his first big league win in his last outing, allowing three runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings against San Francisco.
Rockies: LHP Kyle Freeland (2-6, 6.71 ERA) is seeking his first win since April 18 against Philadelphia. He has gone 1-3 with an 8.65 ERA in five starts at home this season.
AROUND THE MAJORS WEDNESDAY
–The Los Angeles Dodgers have added another game to their hefty lead in the National League West by turning a five-run deficit into a 9-8 win over the New York Mets. The Dodgers scored four times without making an out against Edwin Diaz in the bottom of the ninth to win the rubber match of the series. Joc Pederson and Max Muncy greeted Diaz by belting home runs, and Cody Bellinger tied it with an RBI double before Alex Verdugo’s sacrifice fly capped the comeback. Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith homered in the seventh to put the Mets ahead, 8-3 before their bullpen collapsed. New York also wasted a pair of two-run blasts by rookie Pete Alonso. The Dodgers own the best record in the NL at 37-19, putting them eight games ahead of second-place San Diego.
_ James Paxton returned to the mound and the Yankees banged out four home runs in a 7-0 shutout of the Padres. Paxton worked the first four innings in his first start since missing nearly a month because of inflammation in his left knee. DJ LeMahieu, Luke Voit, Gio Urshela and Gleyber Torres went deep for the Yankees, who tagged Chris Paddack for three homers and four runs over five innings.
_ Willy Adames ended the Rays’ 4-3 win over the Blue Jays with an RBI single in the bottom of the 11th. Garcia and Tommy Pham each had three of Tampa Bay’s 14 hits. The Blue Jays had four hits off Blake Snell’s first 10 pitches of the game, including a two-run homer by Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
_ Carlos Santana homered and hit Cleveland’s first triple of the season while collecting five RBIs in a 14-9 slugfest win over the Red Sox. Greg Allen hit a pair of triples and drove in two as Cleveland matched its season high for runs. Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Andrew Benintendi and Xander Bogaerts homered for Boston.
_ Kyle Schwarber and Kris Bryant homered to support Kyle Hendricks’ eight innings of work in the Cubs’ 2-1 win at Houston. Hendricks allowed four hits and one run with seven strikeouts for his fourth straight win. Albert Almora Jr. was visibly upset when he fouled off a ball that hit a young girl in the standings, although a photo taken by The Associated Press appeared to show her conscious and crying as she was quickly whisked away.
_ The Athletics suffered their second straight loss since a double-digit winning streak by allowing five runs in the eleventh inning of a 12-7 setback against the Angels. Cesar Puello was hit by a pitch leading off the 11th and scored the tiebreaking run on a throwing error by first baseman Matt Olson. Puello also slammed a two-run homer and was 3-for-4 with four RBIs.
_ Nomar Mazara and Asdrubal Cabrera hit back-to-back doubles in the ninth to send the Rangers past the Mariners, 8-7. The Mariners led 7-5 until Shin-Soo Choo hit a two-run single in the eighth. Texas also capitalized on three errors and a wild pitch by Seattle relievers in the sixth inning.
_ Tim Anderson doubled in the go-ahead run in the eighth to give the White Sox an 8-7 victory over the Royals. The double came six innings after Anderson was beaned by Glenn Sparkman, leading to the ejection of the Kansas City starter. José Abreu hit a three-run homer and Yoán Moncada also connected as the White Sox swept a three-game series for the first time this season.
_ The Tigers earned a 4-2 win over the Orioles in Baltimore on Brandon Dixon’s tiebreaking, two-run homer in the ninth. John Hicks knotted the score with a solo blast in the eighth before Detroit took the rubber match of the three-game set. Keon Broxton connected in the Birds’ 13th loss in 16 games.
_ Bryce Harper homered, hit his 200th career double and drove in four before fouling a ball off his foot and exiting in the fifth inning of the Phillies 11-4 drubbing of the Cardinals. Harper drove a two-run homer to left-center in the third and followed an inning later with a two-run hustle double. Scott Kingery and Maikel Franco hit back-to-back homers in the fifth, and Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run shot two batters later to blow the game open.
_ Anibal Sanchez finally picked up his first win as a National by tossing one-hit ball over six shutout innings of a 14-4 thrashing of the Braves. Howie Kendrick hit a three-run double for the Nats, who also got home runs from Juan Soto and Matt Adams. Washington withstood a grand slam by rookie Austin Riley and completed a two-game sweep of Atlanta.
_ Josh Bell is hitting .345 this season after going 3-for-5 with a three-run blast in the Pirates’ 7-2 rout of the Reds in Cincinnati. Bell tied the Pirates record with his 12th homer in May, and his 23rd extra-base hit of the month leaves him one shy of Hall of Famer Paul Waner’s club mark. Colin Moran also had a three-run shot off Anthony DeSclafani, who has given up seven homers in his last three starts.
_ The Marlins dealt the Giants their seventh consecutive loss as Jorge Alfaro had a career-high four hits in Miami’s 4-2 victory. Neil Walker had a tiebreaking, pinch-hit double in the seventh to help the Marlins win for the ninth time in 12 games. Nick Anderson got the win after starter Pablo Lopez allowed four hits and one run in six innings.