Rockies: Rain brings sunny outlook

Colorado escapes 5-1 deficit thanks to postponement

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Monday, March 31, 2008

Chris Schneider / The Rocky

Jeff Francis struggled with his control, falling behind the Cardinals 5-1 before receiving a reprieve when rain forced a postponement.

By the time Rockies left-hander Jeff Francis labored through the first inning of Monday's season opener against the Cardinals, he was wishing for a "do over."

He got it.

The Rockies saw the makings of an Opening Day worth forgetting officially forgotten. After nearly a 90-minute delay, and with St. Louis holding a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning, heavy rain forced postponement of the season opener.

The teams will take a second shot at starting the season today (6:15 p.m. MDT), weather permitting.

"We did catch a break," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "We're not complaining."

The Cardinals weren't happy but had no complaints, either.

"Disappointing because of the way we came out and played," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said of his reaction to the turn of events. "But it's Mother Nature. You can't do anything about it. The umpires made the right decision."

When the Rockies open defense of the first National League pennant in franchise history, the start will go not to Francis, who tied the club record with 17 wins last year, but to Kip Wells, who was dumped by St. Louis at the end of last season and lost out in the battle for one of the five spots in the Rockies rotation during spring training.

"He said he wanted to get a chance and he's going to get it right here," Hurdle said. "The game is strange in that way."

Francis isn't an option for tonight. He only registered seven outs, but he threw 69 pitches, 35 in the first inning, when 17 of the first 19 pitches he threw were balls. He didn't throw a called strike until his 21st pitch. Hurdle said Francis will make his delayed 2008 debut Saturday against Arizona at Coors Field.

Hurdle didn't want to jumble the rest of the rotation, having designed the work in the final days of spring training to provide proper rest for Aaron Cook to start Wednesday and Ubaldo Jimenez on Thursday, both against the Cardinals, then Mark Redman in the home opener against Arizona on Friday, with rookie Franklin Morales going in the series finale with the Diamondbacks on Sunday.

That left Wells as the logical choice, a chance for the right- hander to make a statement on the field to Dave Duncan, the Cardinals pitching coach with whom a hoped-for connection never developed.

"I'd like to think if I pitch well, I will have an opportunity (to start)," Wells said. "Obviously, this is an opportunity for me to go out and get us started on the right track."

It isn't a first for Wells. His career has hit hard times. He is a combined 17-40 with Pittsburgh, Texas and St. Louis the past three years. But there was a time when he was considered a promising young pitcher.

In 2004, he was the Opening Day starter for the Pirates and worked six shutout innings in a 2-1 victory against Philadelphia.

"You want to try and treat it like another game, and (Monday) was all the hoopla, so there won't be as many distractions, but, obviously, you want to use the adrenaline that you have to your advantage," Wells said.

Francis would have liked to have been able to do just that, but he didn't.

After the Rockies took a 1-0 lead in the first, Francis began the bottom of the inning by throwing 10 consecutive balls, finally getting Albert Pujols to fly out to left on a 2-1 pitch.

Then came seven more consecutive balls before Rick Ankiel fouled off a 3-0 pitch, took a called strike and doubled home two runs. Back-to-back singles by Yadier Molina and Cesar Izturis put the Cardinals up 4-1.

"He's a gifted pitcher, and he was making some quality pitches that were just off the plate," La Russa said. "I don't think he was missing as much as our guys were patient."

Pujols added a two-out home run in the second. By the time the rain came, Francis had thrown only 28 strikes among his 69 pitches.

"It might have been Opening Day jitters, I don't know," Hurdle said. "He was almost so deliberate that he wasn't getting (his arm) to the point he needed to (be able to throw a pitch). . . . This game can be so humbling. That's not the Jeff we are accustomed to seeing. We've seen him get hit around, but not once have we seen him struggle like that to throw strikes."

Now it's a matter of wiping the moment from Francis' memory.

"Not many baseball players get a mulligan," Francis said of the golf term for getting to take a shot over.

But Francis and the Rockies did.

Etc.: The umpiring crew for the series includes Mike Winters, who was suspended for the final five regular- season games and kept out of the postseason last year for cursing at Milton Bradley, then with San Diego. In the ensuing argument with Winters, Bradley tore a ligament in his right knee when manager Bud Black restrained him. Winters worked first base Monday with no incident. . . . St. Louis management replaced the widely criticized outfield grass during the offseason. Players, most notably former Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds, often complained about the poor footing caused by grass that did not take root. The new surface received high marks from Cardinals outfielders. "It's the best outfield we could ask for," said left fielder Skip Schumaker, who made a diving catch of Troy Tulowitzki's drive to the gap in the first inning. . . . With right-hander Kip Wells scheduled to start for the Rockies tonight, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa is expected to start Chris Duncan, a left-handed hitter, in left field. Schumaker would remain in the leadoff spot but move to right field in place of Ryan Ludwick. Duncan had 20 home runs and a .525 slugging percentage in 295 at-bats against right-handers last season.

NUMBERS GAME

4 postponements in the two-plus season history of the new Busch Stadium.

FIRST THINGS

Andres Galarraga and Todd Helton are the only players to start an Opening Day at first base for the Rockies. Galarraga started at first base in the team's first five openers and Helton has started every Opening Day since.

Helton is looking to make his 11th consecutive Opening Day start, which will be fourth among active players. Chipper Jones started his 14th opener in a row with Atlanta on Sunday. Garret Anderson started his 14th in a row for the Angels on Monday. Derek Jeter has made 12 starts in a row for the Yankees, who also were rained out Monday.

PUJOLS STAYS HOT

Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols continued what he started in spring training during Monday's rainout.

Pujols hit the ball hard twice in each of his two at-bats against Rockies starter Jeff Francis.

Pujols lined out to left field with two runners on in the first inning and hit a fastball about 40 feet farther for a home run in the second.

Pujols batted .407 with five homers and 18 RBI in 59 at-bats in exhibition play. He led the majors in slugging percentage at .780.

HE SAID IT

"Perfect. I get a little trial run. There were some jitters, but I was surprised at how relaxed I felt."

Jayson Nix, Rockies second baseman, on having his major league debut washed away by rain.

Gerry Fraley contributed to this report.

• April 1, 2008

  9:58 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dan2 writes:

  Uh, sorry to tell you all, but Francis IS the pitcher of record, because the games CONTINUE on with a delay, not like in the past where it is all a wash, but the stats stay. When the game resumes, the score will STILL be 5-1, and it will be the bottom of the 3rd. According to MLB Official Rule 4.12:
  (C) A suspended game shall be resumed at the exact point of suspension of the original game. The completion of a suspended game is a continuation of the original game. The lineup and batting order of both teams shall be exactly the same as the lineup and batting order at the moment of suspension, subject to the rules governing substitution. Any player may be replaced by a player who had not been in the game prior to the suspension. No player removed before the suspension may be returned to the lineup.
  A player who was not with the club when the game was suspended may be used as a substitute, even if he has taken the place of a player no longer with the club who would not have been eligible because he had been removed from the lineup before the game was suspended.

  So, this is not a "do-over" anymore, and will, most likely, end up as a loss, with Francis being the pitcher of record.

• April 1, 2008

  10:21 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  softbalangel writes:

  Actually they postponed the game, not suspended. Therefore they will start the game all over again.

• April 1, 2008

  10:39 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  broncofam writes:

  Ummm, Dan2,
  According to MLB Official Rule 4.10:
  (e) If a game is called before it has become a regulation game, the umpire shall declare it “No Game.”

  "In such case, the game is to be replayed in its entirety, unless the league president determines that playing the rescheduled game is not necessary to affect the league championship."

• April 2, 2008

  8:04 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  TracyRingolsby writes:

  Dan 2, what you didn't understand is that a regulation game must have completed five innings. The Rockies game was in the bottom of the third, therefore not a regulation game.