SAN DIEGO _ Jarred Cosart threw 43 pitches while retiring nine of the Colorado Rockies' first 10 batters Sunday.
He threw 53 pitches to the next 11 batters. He retired only three of them.
The right-hander faltered on his second trip through the Rockies' order and failed to recover. The Padres offense, aside from a mammoth home run from Hunter Renfroe, accomplished nothing of consequence as Jeff Hoffman pounded the strike zone in his ninth major league start.
The result: a 3-1 loss, the Padres schooled in a rubber match at Petco Park.
The contrast between first-place Colorado and San Diego, which slipped back into a last-place tie with San Francisco, was most evident on the mound.
Hoffman, who had been called up as an injury replacement, reaffirmed his status as the Rockies' top pitching prospect. Like Cosart, he retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced. Unlike Cosart, he did not let up.
The 24-year-old delivered seven innings of one-run ball. He struck out nine, a career high. He allowed three hits and no walks.
A momentary outburst opened the bottom of the fifth. Renfroe made a vicious turn on a 3-1 fastball, launching a 438-foot drive off the facing of the top deck of the Western Metal Supply building.
The right fielder's 11th home run of the season evoked memories of last September, when, in his fifth major league start, he became the first player to homer onto the roof of the left-field landmark.
Another rookie, center fielder Franchy Cordero, followed Renfroe's solo shot with a sharply hit single.
Hoffman responded by retiring each of the next nine batters.
Cosart had not been so assertive.
In the top of the fourth, his early-game efficiency disappeared. He yielded a leadoff single, then a two-out double. He sprang off the mound to field a swinging bunt with his glove and, in the same motion, shovel the ball to home plate. The resulting force out provided only a temporary respite.
Cosart walked the next batter on five pitches, loading the bases. Trevor Story won an eight-pitch battle, sending a two-run single up the middle. Rancho Buena Vista High graduate Tony Wolters followed with an RBI single to right. The Rockies, scoreless before the fourth, had taken a 3-0 lead.
After the fifth inning began, Cosart still looked tentative. A leadoff single preceded a nine-pitch walk. Next came a seven-pitch free pass. Manager Andy Green summoned long reliever Craig Stammen from the bullpen.
Thrown into a bases-loaded, no-out mess, Stammen escaped with a lineout and a double play.
Cosart's final line still reflected a disappointing performance. He recorded only 12 outs for the second consecutive start. He struck out five batters, but he also allowed six hits and three walks. In 24 innings this season, he has more walks (19) than strikeouts (15).
