Phoenix – Win or lose, Jeff Francis remains calm and cool. But his demeanor doesn’t mean the Rockies’ rookie isn’t passionate about his pitching.
Sunday evening, shortly after his best performance of the season, Francis was asked if he was aware of what he had accomplished in Colorado’s 7-1 victory over the Diamondbacks.
The lanky lefty did, after all, face the minimum 18 batters in his six innings.
“Oh, yeah, I know I did that,” he said.
Nor was Francis surprised by his three-hit, no-run, no-walk, three-strikeout performance – an effort that righted much of what had been going wrong the past two months.
“I never lost my confidence,” said Francis, who snapped a personal-worst three-game losing streak. “If I am going out there and making my pitches and getting hit around the ballpark, then it’s time to rethink some things.
“But the biggest thing for me was to make the adjustments and make the pitches I needed to make.”
Arizona right fielder Chad Tracy, who scored the Diamondbacks’ only run when he hit a homer off reliever Scott Dohmann in the seventh, was impressed by Francis.
“He was tough, working up and down and on both sides of the plate,” Tracy said. “I’m sure that’s not the last time we’ll have to face him. He’s going to be around for a long time.”
Defensively, the Rockies pulled off two double plays, and catcher Danny Ardoin picked off Andy Green with a snap throw to first in the third inning. Those plays allowed Francis to face the minimum 18 hitters.
If Francis (13-12) wasn’t surprised by his command Sunday, he was caught off guard when manager Clint Hurdle lifted him after six innings with the Rockies holding a 2-0 lead. At that point, Francis had thrown just 73 pitches.
“I really didn’t think he was going to take me out; I was surprised,” said Francis, who improved to 5-0 in seven career starts against the Diamondbacks. “But it’s not really my job to second-guess those things. We won the game, so I’m not too worried about it.”
The Rockies will hold their organizational meetings Tuesday through Friday to begin mapping out 2006. Francis is a huge part of that plan, and Hurdle went into the game with an eye toward the future. He had a plan in place for Francis, who was 2-5 with an 8.69 ERA the previous two months.
“With the line of games he had going into this start, I had my mind made up when I got to the ballpark that if he gave us good effort through six innings, that was going to be plenty,” Hurdle said. “That would leave his confidence high, and then we’d turn the game over to the guys (in the bullpen) who have done the job and built some of the momentum we’ve had.”
Sunday’s game clinched another road series for the Rockies, who have won six of their past eight series away from Coors Field. Since June 1, the Rockies are 46-52, the best record in the National League West.
While Francis finally got his act together after a two-month search, the rest of the club has played solid baseball.
Cory Sullivan continues to solidify his claim to center field. He tracked down two long drives Sunday, including snaring a ball just beneath the center-field overhang at Bank One Ballpark.
Staff writer Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-820-5459 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
