Triple Crown races
into right field, allowing Perez to scoot to third. Then Martin Maldonado hit a swinging bunt down the third-base line to score Perez.
Undaunted, Hoffman struck out three of the next four hitters to squelch Milwaukee’s minirally.
“Everything was in the zone tonight,” Hoffman said of his performance. “When nights like that happen, it’s fun to pitch.”
Rockies manager Walt Weiss said Hoffman “did a good job. He got that big strikeout in the fifth with the bases loaded. It was nice to see him get out of that jam. He was on a bit of a short leash tonight because he hadn’t had a start in a while. We thought we’d give him about five innings, 75 pitches.”
Referring to the Brewers’ Peralta, Weiss said: “He went to his secondary stuff after an inning or two and he went to breaking stuff and offspeed stuff, and he was effective doing that against us.”
Colorado’s offense finally woke up in the eighth against Milwaukee right-hander Corey Knebel, cutting the Brewers’ lead to 3-2. The key hits were a leadoff triple by Tony Wolters and run-scoring singles by rookie Pat Valaika and Carlos Gonzalez. It was Gonzalez’s 100th RBI of the season, the second time in his career he hit the century mark. He drove in 117 runs in 2010.
In what’s been a common theme this season, When combined, Rockies players Nolan Arenado and DJ LeMahieu are in the hunt to win National League Triple Crown category races: Saturday Did not play Did not play DJ LeMahieu Daniel Murphy Nolan Arenado Chris Carter Nolan Arenado Matt Kemp Anthony Rizzo Rockies Nationals Rockies Brewers Rockies Braves/ Padres Cubs .348 .347 41 41 133 108 108 None None None None None the Rockies’ bullpen was unable to shut down the opposition after the starter departed. Eddie Butler, trying to establish his role for next season, pitched a strong two innings in relief before running into trouble in the eighth. Jonathan Villar hit a one-out single and then stole second, his 63rd theft of the season, and Santana drew a walk. That was it for Butler.
In came Jordan Lyles to face Ryan Braun, who drilled a run-scoring double down the third-base line to score Villar to make it 2-0. Perez’s subsequent RBI single made it 3-0.