DENVER -- Sam Hilliard is a part-time player with the Rockies -- much like he was last season with the Braves. On Saturday night, he auditioned for a greater role with his new/old team.

Hilliard launched a three-run homer, a two-run double and a second double in the Rockies¡¯ 11-8 loss at Coors Field.

¡°It was definitely cool to compete against former teammates and my former team, and to be able to have a good game like that, come through like that and come through a couple of times was huge,¡± Hilliard said. ¡°I was glad to be in there against a lefty, get an opportunity and see some of my hard work pay off.¡±

The career-high five-RBI performance came in Hilliard¡¯s 33rd appearance and 20th start since being selected from Triple-A Albuquerque on June 21. That represents a much greater slice than he received last year with the Braves, who acquired Hilliard from the Rockies the previous winter.

Hilliard was on the Braves¡¯ Major League active roster, but appeared in just 40 games from Opening Day until July 19, when he went to the 10-day injured list with a right heel contusion. After four injury rehab games, he was placed on the 60-day IL, and found himself on his way out of Atlanta.

The Braves traded him to the Orioles, who waived him in Spring Training. The Rockies brought him home -- he broke in with them 2019-23 -- and brought him back to the Majors after he began the season at Albuquerque.

Going from a settled, powerful, contending Braves roster that prefers using its mainstays most every day if healthy to a Rockies team testing for the future could be a boon to Hilliard.

Last season, for example, he had just nine plate appearances against a left-handed pitcher. This year, after a homer and a two-run bloop double Saturday off starter Max Fried plus another double off Aaron Bummer (lefties both) the Rockies have given him a little more ¨C 16 at-bats ¨C and he has responded with five hits (.316) and seven RBIs.

The playing time is not anything close to full time. Hilliard is sharing outfield at-bats with lefty-hitting veteran Jake Cave, and veterans Charlie Blackmon and Kris Bryant use days at outfield and designated hitter to reach the field.

But lefty-swinging Nolan Jones hopes to return soon from his back injury rehab assignment at Albuquerque (he homered while going 1-for-4 with three strikeouts on Saturday against Sacramento). Right-handed-hitting Jordan Beck, the MLB Pipeline No. 54 and Rockies No. 3 prospect, also is at Triple-A, hopes to resume the playing time he received before going to the injured list with a broken left hand in late May. The Rockies also have moved another lefty-hitting outfield prospect, MLB Pipeline No. 64 and Rockies No. 4 Yanquiel Fernandez, to Triple-A, so he is just a move away from Denver.

Nights like Saturday represent a chance for Hilliard to warrant being slotted into the lineup.

¡°Every time I'm with the team, every time I play, I'm trying to show them that I'm capable of being a huge part of this lineup, and I¡¯m getting more opportunities and more at-bats,¡± said Hilliard, who improved to .246 with four home runs and 13 RBIs with Saturday¡¯s 3-for-4 game. ¡°I¡¯ve felt like that in the past and that¡¯s always going to be my goal.¡±

Decisions will come in time. But Hilliard made his case until his final at-bat. With two out, one on and the Rockies trailing in the seventh, 10-8, he had a solid drive against Braves reliever Pierce Johnson that was the final out.

¡°He gave us a big boost a couple times,¡± manager Bud Black said.

Despite the scarce playing time last year, the spring of little opportunity in Baltimore and the need to begin at Albuquerque, Hilliard maintained a belief that there is a role for him in the Majors.

¡°I'm really confident in my abilities,¡± he said. ¡°I know that if I get the opportunity, I'm going to put the numbers up and do my thing. That¡¯s what you have to think. That's how you have to believe in yourself.

¡°Hopefully, I can keep getting the opportunities, and it's gonna speak for itself.¡±