Isotopes' Hoffman is all aces in Las Vegas

An inconsistent start to the year took a turn for the better on Friday for Jeff Hoffman, who had his most impressive outing to notch his first victory of 2017.
The right-hander allowed one hit and struck out a season-high eight over seven scoreless innings as Albuquerque defeated Las Vegas, 8-4. It was the Isotopes' fourth straight win and Glenallen Hill's 300th as a manager.
Facing a lineup featuring two of MLB.com's top 100 prospects in Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith, (ranked third and 57th, respectively), Hoffman (1-2) had a four-run lead before taking the mound.
The Rockies' No. 2 prospect retired the 51s in order in four of his seven innings, working around a pair of walks in the second, a one-out single by Rosario in the third and another walk in the fifth. 

Box score
The upstate New York native faced his only real crisis in the second, when he issued back-to-back walks followed by a catcher's interference call on Anthony Bemboom that loaded the bases. Hoffman responded by striking out Xorge Carrillo and retiring Ricky Knapp to keep Las Vegas off the scoreboard.
The 24-year-old fired 66 pitches over the first four innings as he walked three and notched seven of his eight strikeouts. He needed 24 pitches to retire the final nine batters he faced.
Hoffman entered with 16 punchouts in 21 innings, one year after fanning 124 in 118 Triple-A frames. The scoreless start also lowered his ERA from 5.14 to 3.86.
Drafted ninth overall in 2014, Hoffman made his big league debut with the Rockies last Aug. 20 and finished winless in eight appearances, including six starts, with a 4.88 ERA. That came on the heels of a largely successful Triple-A debut where the East Carolina University product posted a 4.02 ERA while striking out 9.25 batters per nine innings.

Bemboom's three hits paced the Isotopes, who had five players with multi-hit games. Rockies No. 5 prospect Raimel Tapia had two hits, including his third triple, while Daniel Castro drove in three runs.
Rosario had two hits, including a two-run double during a four-run eighth, and scored a run. The Mets' top-ranked prospect is batting .402 after hitting safely in 18 of 21 games, including 12 multi-hit efforts.