Colorado Rockies swept in Arizona, Hoffman hit hard in start while bullpen struggles

The Rockies sent Jeff Hoffman to the mound for their final game against the Diamondbacks of the 2016 season as they sought to avoid the sweep in Arizona. The two teams combined to send out fourteen different pitchers in a game that just seemingly dragged on and the Rockies got walloped as Hoffman was hit hard once again while the bullpen floundered.

Hoffman had a shaky start to his night, surrendering a solo homer to leadoff man Jean Segura. Hoffman was able to retire the next two Diamondbacks he faced but walked Jake Lamb, who went on to score on Tomas' double in the next at-bat. And things didn't get much better from there, as Hoffman ended his night having been shelled for seven runs (four earned) on eight hits after just 4 2/3 innings.

With the two runs in the first inning, the Diamondbacks put themselves out in front after the Rockies had put one on the board in the first off of Charlie Blackmon's 27th homer of the year. Rubby De La Rosa, activated from the DL on Friday, was replaced in the second inning after throwing 45 pitches, 15 short of the 60 the Diamondbacks were targeting.

Hoffman settled down after letting up the two runs in the first and struck out three over the next two innings. In the fifth, however, Segura got to Hoffman again and hit a two-run homer to put the Diamondbacks up 4-1. Owings followed Segura with a double and Jake Lamb drove him in on a fielder's choice/catching error before Brandon Drury doubled home Lamb to put the Diamondbacks in front by a score of 6-1, bringing an end to Hoffman's night. Justin Miller replaced the righty, who struggled badly again.

Miller, of course, immediately surrendered a run-scoring single and hit Tuffy Gosewisch with a pitch. The Rockies showed a bit of life in the sixth, clawing back a pair of runs on Descalso's two-run homer. Predictably, the Diamondbacks answered with a pair of runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame on Chris Owings' third home run of the year off of Christian Bergman.

With the Rockies down by 9-3 heading into the seventh, Blackmon helped the Rockies come back into the game a bit with a triple to start a little rally that netted the Rockies three runs, but Jordan Lyles then allowed a run in the bottom half of the frame on a wild pitch, which put the Rockies' deficit at four. Carlos Estevez replaced Lyles and pitched a scoreless eighth inning to give the Rockies a much-needed break from the onslaught of runs. Just kidding, he gave up a one-out homer to Drury. For those of you keeping track at home, that was the Diamondbacks' fourth of the night. Estevez did, however, strike out Segura after a lengthy duel before Carasiti got the final out of the inning, leaving the bases loaded.

Daniel Hudson came in for Arizona and shut the door on the Rockies, mercifully bringing an end to a game that was pretty painful to watch. Actually, very painful. With the loss, Hoffman drops to (0-4). The Rockies host the Padres and Cardinals next.