Colorado Rockies pitching prospect Sam Howard shut down Kannapolis for seven innings, allowing just two hits and a walk in the Low-A Asheville Tourists' 6-0 win on Wednesday.
Howard whiffed eight batters and threw 55 of 86 pitches for strikes. He induced seven ground outs.
The 22-year-old left-hander, whom the Rockies selected in the third round of the 2014 draft, owns a 2.70 ERA with 48 strikeouts and 15 walks since the South Atlantic League All-Star break. Howard, a Georgia Southern alum, has struck out 105 batters and walked just 29 in 115 innings overall this year.
Roberto Ramos, in his first game back from a stint on the disabled list, led Asheville's offfense by going 2-for-4 with a homer and a pair of runs batted in. The 20-year-old first baseman is hitting .330/.397/.560 in 127 plate appearances since joining the Tourists on June 18.
Forrest Wall doubled, walked and scored twice, and Yonathan Daza drove in a couple of runs for the Tourists, who improved to 62-59.
Double-A New Britain: L 9-5 (57-64)
Jeff Hoffman had his worst start since joining the Rockies organization, allowing six runs on seven hits in 4⅔ innings in the Rock Cats' loss.
Hoffman induced seven ground outs and only one fly out and threw 54 of 84 pitches for strikes while punching out four batters and walking one. He allowed two hard extra-base hits, but the other five hits he gave up were on grounders, one of which was a bunt single. The walk he surrendered was intentional.
Jordan Patterson had three hits -- including a double and a homer -- and a walk to pace New Britain's offense. David Dahl added two hits and a stolen base. Jan Vazquez also homered as part of a two-hit game, and Michael Tauchman pitched in a couple of hits as well.
High-A Modesto: L 3-1 (62-60)
The Nuts were unable to give any run support to Antonio Senzatela, who allowed two runs on four hits and three walks in six innings.
Senzatela induced six ground outs and struck out six batters but gave up a homer in addition to the bit of wildness. It didn't really matter, anyway, as Modesto's offense was kept mostly quiet.
Raimel Tapia hit his 33rd double of the season and Wilson Soriano added two hits and an RBI in the loss.
Short-Season A Boise: L 11-5 (20-39)
Bad defense appears to have done in the Hawks in this one. Starter Javier Palacios allowed six runs, but just one of them was earned as a result of a pair of untimely errors.
Carlos Herrera, Brian Mundell and Tyler Follis had two hits apiece to lead Boise's bats.
Rookie Grand Junction: L 2-1 (25-32)
Parker French scattered seven singles and allowed just one run in five innings. He struck out four and didn't walk a batter, but much like his organizational mates in High-A and at the big league level, French didn't get much support from his offense.
Brendan Rodgers and Jonathan Piron had two hits apiece for the rookie Rockies. Mylz Jones doubled and scored the team's lone run.
DSL Rockies: W 6-0 (33-36)
Jorge Oviedo was probably the top star of the organization on Wednesday. The 18-year-old left-hander tossed a two-hit shutout, striking out 11 batters and inducing 11 ground outs. Oviedo owns a 2.73 ERA with 50 strikeouts and just three walks in 59⅓ innings as a starter this season.
Luis Brito and Hidekel Gonzalez led the Rockies' offense with two hits apiece.