It was such a textbook victory, so startling at a ballpark in which the textbook most often resembles something written by a wordy physicist.
Imagine this: The Rockies on Thursday won a game in which the starting pitcher provided six good innings, the setup men held and the closer closed. The batters hit well enough when necessary.
So neat, so simple. So, un-Coors Field – and un-Rockie-like.
Colorado’s 3-1 win over the San Francisco Giants closed out a 10-game homestand with a 5-5 record, including two of three against the Bay Area visitors. The road beckons, however, where trips by the Rockies go about as smoothly as in the movie “Planes, Trains & Automobiles.”
Before departure, however, everything checked out just fine, mostly thanks to the left arm of Jeff Francis. The 24-year-old allowed one run in six innings for his team-leading fourth victory of the season, tops among National League rookie pitchers.
Francis also improved to 5-0 with a 2.78 ERA in six career starts at Coors Field, numbers that should qualify him for some kind of fancy award somewhere.
“He continues to show a lot of poise,” Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. “It was not his best stuff, by any means, but he stayed out of trouble. He kept the ball down and got out of trouble when he got into trouble.”
Francis got all the offensive support he needed on a second-inning home run by Luis Gonzalez and an RBI double in the fifth inning by Cory Sullivan. Third baseman Garrett Atkins added a sixth-inning homer for good measure.
“I do feel comfortable here, despite, you know, the home runs and everything everybody talks about,” Francis said. “I just look at it like it’s the same for the other (pitcher). Scores might be inflated, but they might be inflated for our team, too.”
Francis allowed a sixth-inning homer to Lance Niekro and allowed the leadoff runner to reach base in three of his six innings. But Francis always seemed in good control of the situation, especially against a Giants team that looks somewhat old and deflated without Barry Bonds.
“I felt comfortable today,” Francis said. “The bullpen did a great job, too, like they did for us the whole series.”
Brian Fuentes pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save since Sept. 21, 2003, against San Diego.
Fuentes is the odds-on favorite for the closer’s job now that it appears certain Chin-Hui Tsao is out for the season with arm problems.
“It felt good to be out there in a situation to close a game out,” Fuentes said.
Hurdle praised the rest of his bullpen, so severely criticized earlier in the season. Jay Witasick pitched a perfect eighth inning for the Rockies, his seventh game in succession without allowing an earned run (nine innings total).
“He’s come in and really done a nice job for us,” Hurdle said. “It’s helped us stabilize some things there.”
Atkins, whose homer measured 412 feet off Giants reliever Matt Herges, isn’t making any promises for the Rockies as they begin a 10-game road trip. There is too much negative history for that.
“But I think we’re a more confident team than we were a couple weeks ago,” he said. “I think our pitching has been good lately, and we go out there expecting to be in every ballgame we’re in.”
Rockies recap
Don’t ask Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis why he is hotter in the afternoon than “Days of Our Lives.”
Francis, with his win Thursday, improved to 6-0 with a 2.56 ERA in nine career afternoon starts.
“I have no idea. I guess it’s just something that’s going that way right now,” he said.
NO WORD: Although reliever Chin-Hui Tsao was at the ballpark, the Rockies were mum on his latest medical condition. Tsao was diagnosed with a torn tendon in his pitching arm and may need surgery, but no decision has been announced.
Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
