PHOENIX -- Sunday brought another poor outing for Rockies right-handed reliever Manuel Corpas. But his two better performances before that bought him enough goodwill that manager Clint Hurdle did not consider demoting him to the Minors.

Corpas gave up one run on two hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning in Sunday afternoon's 6-1 loss to the Padres at PETCO Park. But in his previous two games, he pitched 3 1/3 combined innings and yielded one run, on a home run by the Cardinals' Rick Ankiel.

The confidence and the consistency of his arm motion, which affects his slider, are still nowhere near what they were when he was the closer for the Rockies when they won last year's National League title. Corpas has been scored upon in 10 of his 18 outings, and has given up 27 hits in 19 2/3 innings.

With various reports saying the Rockies are interested in veteran righty Julian Tavarez -- recently designated for assignment by the Red Sox -- the Rockies could find themselves needing a spot, and that could be an opportunity to move Corpas to Triple-A Colorado Springs to regain his form.

But Hurdle said there were signs of a turnaround before he took "a step backward" Sunday.

"It's still the inconsistency of repeating his delivery and maintaining a consistent arm slot," Hurdle said. "But he had two solid outings before that, so I think that's going to keep him in play. I'm confident we'll find a way to keep him moving forward. It's a challenge."