In fateful 3rd, Hoffman unable to limit damage

SAN DIEGO — Things were looking just fine for Jeff Hoffman at the start of the Rockies’ 14-1 loss to the Padres on Thursday night.

The 22-year-old righty worked around a leadoff single in the first inning and then struck out the side in the second.

But things quickly fell apart in the third, after Cristhian Adames’ two-out error snowballed into seven unearned runs and the end of Hoffman’s outing — the shortest of his young career.

After the game, Hoffman wasn’t putting any of the blame on that play that appeared to be the turning point.

“I didn’t lose focus [because of the error], I just think a couple pitches leaked back over the plate and found barrels,” he said. “The error doesn’t mean anything. That stuff happens, you’ve just got to go out and make the next pitch and get out of it.”

Getting out of it proved to be an insurmountable task, as Hoffman surrendered three consecutive singles, a home run, a walk and another single before Colorado manager Walt Weiss pulled his rookie righty.

“[Hoffman] …

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