Francis returns to form in Rockies win

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 3, 2008 at 11:10 p.m.

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Photo by Danny Moloshok © Associated Press

Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba and Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp fight after Kemp struck out to end the eighth inning of the Rockies 3-0 win over the Dodgers on Tuesday night in Los Angeles. Both players were ejected and both benches cleared after the fight.

LOS ANGELES — No player has mirrored the Rockies' struggles of 2008 like Jeff Francis.

Fittingly, it was Francis who brought a momentary relief to the agonies — his and the team's — on Tuesday night.

Francis was as good as he has been at any point this season in a 3-0 victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium that included an eighth-inning bench clearing that figures to lead to suspensions for Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba and Dodgers left fielder Matt Kemp.

A 17-game winner when the Rockies were on their way to winning their first National League pennant last year, Francis earned only his second victory of the season and helped the Rockies end losing streaks of eight games overall and 13 games on the road.

"It's not like we haven't seen him pitch well before, but it's been a while," manager Clint Hurdle said. "It was a good sign in the first inning. They hit four balls off the barrel of the bat and didn't score. You're always looking for signs."

And there was another sign in the bottom of the eighth.

Kemp swung and missed at an inning-ending strike three, but Torrealba didn't catch the ball cleanly.

When he went to pick the ball up to tag out Kemp, the Dodgers left fielder shoved Torrealba, who shoved back, leading to the benches clearing.

Torrealba declined to discuss the incident, but Hurdle admitted, "You get pushed in front of 38,000 people and you are going to react. Torrealba took a stand. He wasn't going to get pushed around. Something like that, you can build off."

And Kemp accepted blame.

"Frustration might have been a big, big part of it, but that's not an excuse," he said. "It was stupid, really stupid. It was not a good decision on my part, but it happened and I have to deal with what comes of it."

It didn't hurt that on the next pitch, Chris Iannetta, pinch-hitting to start the ninth, unloaded a home run deep into the Dodgers bullpen for the game's final run.

But most of all, what was important for the Rockies was the effort of Francis.

"This was big for us, as a team," Francis said. "We were carrying a lot of weight. Losing eight in a row is no fun.

"When a team is losing eight in a row, everybody feels each day we're going to turn it around. (Tuesday) we finally did it."

Francis was given a 2-0 lead in the third and withstood only one serious threat.

He gave up four hits and two walks and struck out five in working a season-high seven innings for the fourth time, the first time in his past seven starts.

Relievers Taylor Buchholz and Brian Fuentes worked an inning apiece to finish the first shutout of the season for the Rockies pitching staff.

Fuentes converted his seventh save in eight chances.

And the Rockies did it against Brad Penny, who had given up 29earned runs in 272/3 innings in his five previous starts but had won 14 of 16 previous decisions against the Rockies, including winning his past nine decisions.

Omar Quintanilla led off the third with a single and scored on a Scott Podsednik sacrifice fly. Todd Helton singled home Seth Smith, who followed Podsednik with a single, taking second on a walk to Ryan Spilborghs.

The Dodgers' main challenge to Francis came in the third. Chin-lung Hu led off with a walk and after Penny struck out, Juan Pierre singled.

But Francis struck out Kemp, who had two doubles and a home run Monday, and got Jeff Kent to ground into a fielder's choice.

And Francis got Kemp with the approach that had been missing, busting Kemp inside and getting him to chase breaking balls away.

"That is as good a sequence as he had," Hurdle said. "Two out, two on, against a guy who has been tough on us. ... That's answering a challenge."

The only other time the Dodgers had a runner in scoring position against Francis was with two out in the fourth when Delwyn Young doubled and Blake DeWitt walked.

But Francis got a popup from Hu, the No. 8 hitter in the Dodgers order who is hitless in his past 21 at-bats.

"I wouldn't say I'm back, but that was a good (game)," Francis said. "Now I have to keep it going."

Key moment: With one out in the third, the Dodgers had runners on first and second and the right-handed bats of Matt Kemp and Jeff Kent coming to the plate. Jeff Francis struck out Kemp, who had doubled twice and homered Monday, and got Kent to ground into an inning-ending fielder's choice. Kent went into the game a career .335 hitter against the Rockies with 34 home runs and 129 RBI in 641 at-bats.

Key player: Francis allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, earning only his second win in 12 starts this season and helping the Rockies end an eight-game losing streak and a 13-game road losing streak. In improving his career record against the Dodgers to 5-2, Francis required only three outfield putouts. He retired the last 10 batters he faced.

Key stat: 9 consecutive winning decisions for Dodgers right-hander Brad Penny against Colorado before he suffered the loss, ending his streak that began May 17, 2006, and included two wins this year. Penny's streak was the longest for an opponent against the Rockies. Randy Johnson won eight decisions in a row from June 29, 2001, to Sept. 24, 2003.

Etc.

With a third-inning single, Todd Helton extended his hitting streak to 10 games, his second 10-game streak of the season. He is one of seven players to have two double-figure hitting streaks this season. Third baseman Garrett Atkins is one of the others, having had streaks of 14 games and 12 games. . . . Left-handed pitcher Mark Redman, after initially struggling with Triple-A Colorado Springs, has allowed three runs and two walks in 14 innings in his past two starts. "He should be doing good things down there (at Triple-A)," manager Clint Hurdle said. "His last start out, he was sinking the ball with consistency and went deep into the game." . . . Right-handed pitcher Aneury Rodriguez pitched his second complete game of the season in a 1-0 victory for Single-A Modesto against High Desert (Calif.) on Monday. He allowed two hits and has a 1.27 ERA his past five starts. . . . Outfielder Matt Holliday is fourth in National League outfield voting for the All-Star Game with 369,692 votes, 102,905 behind third-place Ken Griffey Jr. of Cincinnati. Holliday is the only Rockies player among the top vote-getters.

LEADING OFF

Scott Podsednik was back hitting leadoff and playing center field Tuesday as part of manager Clint Hurdle's ongoing search for someone to provide an offensive impetus.

Hurdle was caught off guard by a question concerning giving Willy Taveras' chance to claim the position.

"We've given Willy every opportunity to run with the thing," Hurdle said. "We're looking for someone to take advantage of an opportunity and get hot."

Taveras is fourth on the team in at-bats, behind Garrett Atkins, Todd Helton and Matt Holliday. But he has a .303 on-base percentage and has not been as quick to use the bunt as part of his game. Hurdle said a year ago at this time, Taveras had 10 more bunt hits and 12 more bunt attempts than he does now.

ROTATING

With the off days Thursday and Monday, the Rockies not only are going to try to keep their four main starters on close to normal rest, but they want to realign the rotation so left-handers Glendon Rusch and Jeff Francis won't pitch back-to-back games.

As a result, Rusch won't start again until June 12, fitting between Ubaldo Jimenez and Greg Reynolds.

IN RELIEF

Right-hander Ryan Speier was activated from the disabled list Tuesday and left-hander Micah Bowie (strained left flexor) threw to hitters in an early workout.

Bowie said he expects to begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Colorado Springs. He could be actived within two weeks, at which time the Rockies will face a decision with left-hander Jorge De La Rosa.

Right-hander Alberto Arias was sent down to make room for Speier. Arias worked 132/3 innings in 12 games and had a 2.63 ERA.

• June 3, 2008

  11:38 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  RDenver writes:

  Thank goodness it is a 162 game season. Let's see if Cookie can put together a good game tomorrow! Tonights game looked like vintage Francis!

• June 4, 2008

  2:01 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  flybys writes:

  Jeff Francis' demise maybe has been greatly exaggerated as the Los Angeles Dodgers found out Tuesday.
  
  Francis showed his 2007 form, the one that had him dominate the second half of the season and become an anchor in the Rockies' rotation. With much expected this season, Francis has flopped.

  But there has to be hope. At least the team's front office and fans are clinging to that prospect.
  
  Beating the Dodgers so dominantly shows that when "on" Francis can be a tough pitcher to hit, much less score upon. If the Canadian lefty can find his mechanics his confidence will stabilize and the performances will shine again.

  Francis may not be a true ace but he's certainly not as atrocious as he's looked so far in 2008.

• June 4, 2008

  1 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  BMat writes:

  Iannetta is a better hitter than Torrealba anyway.

  So he comes in and punches one deep in his first AB of the game.

  Hurdle: I know you're commited to losing but keep Iannetta in the line up even when Torrealba gets back.

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