Rockies' Francis cools off Phillies' potent lineup
PHILADELPHIA -- Bandbox or not, this was no day for hitters.
Jeff Francis held the league's highest-scoring team in check, and the Colorado Rockies took advantage of one shaky inning by Cole Hamels to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 in Game 1 of their NL playoff series Wednesday.
"Who would've thought a good old-fashioned National League game would break out in this ballpark?" Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said.
Making just the second postseason appearance in their 15-year history, the Rockies played like October regulars. Colorado posted its second playoff game victory, the other coming in 1995, and won for the 15th time in its last 16 games.
Matt Holliday, his chin still cut up from the face-first slide that won Monday's wild-card tiebreaker over San Diego, hit a solo home run to give his team a 4-2 lead in the eighth inning.
"Any time you expect a slugfest, you get a pitching duel," Holliday said.
Francis pitched 6 effective innings and stayed out of big trouble, mostly by shutting down the Phillies' top hitters.
Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins combined to go 0-for-11 with 8 strikeouts. Utley, a .332 hitter, struck out four times for the second time in his career.
"Some of the hitters may have been uptight, but Francis was way better than the other times I've seen him," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.
Francis' lone problems came in the fifth when Aaron Rowand and Pat Burrell hit consecutive homers.
The left-hander gave up 4 hits and struck out eight. Once the 17-game winner departed, three relievers pitched 3ˆ½Ã¯ˆ¿ˆ½Ã¯ˆ¿ˆ½Ã¯ˆ¿ˆ½ hitless innings, with Manny Corpas closing for a save.
With the two highest-scoring teams in the league playing in two of the most hitter-friendly ballparks in the majors, this series figured to see plenty of runs.
Instead, the clubs combined for 6 runs and 10 hits in the opener. Many hitters expected the late-afternoon shadows to be a problem, and they certainly struggled.
Francis used a mix of off-speed pitches to keep a potent lineup off-balance and improve to 9-0 in day games this season.
"I'm always aware of my success or nonsuccess I have against teams," said Francis, who had a 15.12 ERA against the Philliess this season. "Today, my execution was better."
Game 2 is at 2:07 CDT today, with rookies Kyle Kendrick and Franklin Morales taking the mound.
Kendrick (10-4) made the jump from Class AA to bail out Philadelphia's depleted staff in June. Morales (3-2) made 8 starts for Colorado, which lost three starters to season-ending injuries.
Despite the support of a rally towel-waving sellout crowd -- the 45,655 fans in attendance was the second-largest total in four-year old Citizens Bank Park -- the NL East champion Phillies came out flat. Perhaps they celebrated their first postseason since 1993 a little too hard.
Or, maybe Francis was just that sharp, especially the first four innings.
Rowand finally got them going crazy, lining an opposite-field shot to right to start the bottom of the fifth. Burrell followed with a towering drive that just cleared the left-field wall to cut it to 3-2.
But Francis worked out of a two-out jam to preserve the 1-run lead, retiring Shane Victorino on a grounder with two runners on.
LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless seventh, Brian Fuentes worked the eighth and Corpas finished.
Holliday, the MVP candidate, gave the Rockies an insurance run when he hit Tom Gordon's pitch into the seats for a 4-2 lead in the eighth.
Hamels, the 23-year-old all-star lefty, was outstanding except for the second inning. Making his first career start against the Rockies, he allowed 3 runs and 3 hits in 6¿ innings.
Hamels uncharacteristically walked four and struck out seven. He kept his cool after walking Troy Tulowitzki on a 3-2 pitch to force in Colorado's third run, and retired the next 13 batters.
"You want to succeed in the spotlight," said Hamels. "Nothing can prepare you for what this situation is like."