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Jeff Hoffman struck out a batter in a scoreless inning of work and David Dahl notched an outfield assist, but it was Raimel Tapia who had the most success of the three Rockies prospects who appeared in the All-Star Futures Game on Sunday.
Tapia finished just 1-for-5 at the plate but smacked a two-run double and scored a pair of runs for the World team, who snapped a six-game losing streak in the Futures Game with an 11-3 victory over the U.S. squad. After grounding out twice and lining out in his first three trips to the plate, Tapia reached on an error by U.S. shortstop and Astros top prospect Alex Bregman. His ability to make contact with two strikes paid dividends; Tapia scored the tying run a batter later on a massive home run off the bat of Red Sox farmhand Yoan Moncada, who won MVP honors.
With the bases loaded in the ninth, Tapia again found himself in a two-strike count against Rays relief prospect Ryne Stanek. The Double-A outfielder yanked an offspeed pitch that was nearly in the dirt down the first-base line and out of the reach of diving Dominic Smith (Mets), plating two runs and giving the World team an 8-3 lead.
Tapia scored his second run of the game on a three-run homer from Cubs prospect Eloy Jimenez.
Dahl made a key play a few innings earlier, throwing out Josh Naylor (Marlins) at the plate from center field on a hit by Padres prospect Carlos Asuaje to preserve a one-run lead:
That came after the Rockies' 2012 first-round pick came fairly close to nailing Jimenez at the plate with another strong throw. Both clocked in at in excess of 95 mph, according to MLB.com's Mike Petriello. Dahl was unable to make that kind of impact offensively, grounding out and popping out in his two trips to the plate.
Hoffman struck out Padres prospect Manuel Margot as part of a scoreless fourth inning in which he allowed one hit -- a single off the bat of Moncada. Hoffman retired organizational teammate Tapia on a ground out in that frame, making a nice play covering first after the ball was fielded by the first baseman Smith.