St. Louis – The red-hot Rockies marched into the new Busch Stadium for the first time Monday night and made themselves at home.
Heck, they acted like they owned the joint.
They beat the Cardinals 6-2 for their fourth straight win and ninth victory in their past 12 games.
They did it behind another sparkling performance by starting pitcher Jeff Francis and Matt Holliday’s two homers. Then they acted as if beating a powerful team, on the road no less, was commonplace.
“I just try to look at it as another game this team needed to win,” Francis said. “It was just a game against a good team that we needed to win to stay ahead of the pack in the division.”
Holliday, when pressed, was a bit more expansive about the Rockies’ ability to quiet a red sea of Cardinals rooters.
“I think we were all excited to come play at the new park, against a good team in a great atmosphere,” Holliday said. “It was fun to play well. But I think our starting pitching and bullpen have given this team a lot of confidence.”
The Rockies can ho-hum what’s happening all they want, but they are pulling off a remarkable about-face. They are 11-5 on the road. Last year, they didn’t claim their 11th road victory until Aug. 2. And the National League West leaders improved to 20-13, climbing seven games above .500 for the first time since July 7, 2000.
“This club just looks forward to going out and playing,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “The better the venue, the more focus, the more hype…They don’t mind it at all. It’s good for our young club.”
Francis won his second straight game but lost his shutout bid in the eighth when he gave up a run-scoring single to Hector Luna. In 7 2/3 innings, Francis scattered six hits, walked three and struck out one.
Dating to his April 28 outing in Florida, Francis pitched 14 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings. He is 2-0 with a 1.01 ERA in his past four starts.
“Last year, I was really up and down and I was unable to string a lot of effective starts together,” Francis said. “I need to build on this and keep going.”
A major component of Francis’ success is his ability to throw a changeup in tight situations. But he also trusts his fastball, and he used it to get Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols to pop out to center in the sixth with two men on and one out.
“I knew if I fell behind I would have to give him something in the meat of the zone that he could do a lot with,” Francis said. “So I decided to go right after him with three straight fastballs. Fortunately he popped it up to center.”
Holliday hit solo homers to lead off the third and the seventh and now leads the Rockies with nine homers. He added a single to finish the night 3-for-4. In his past seven games, Holliday is 12-for-26 (.462) with four homers.
The Rockies showed struggling Cardinals starter Jason Marquis no mercy as he took his fourth straight loss. He departed after Holliday’s homer in the seventh after yielding six runs on 10 hits.
Colorado took control in the first inning, taking advantage of Marquis’ wildness. Jamey Carroll singled and moved to second on Garrett Atkins’ walk. When Marquis plunked Holliday, it set the stage for Brad Hawpe’s two-run single. Hawpe finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs and leads the National League with a .443 road batting average.
Rockies reliever Ray King, a former Cardinal, entered the game in the ninth to a mixture of boos and cheers. He uncorked a wild pitch and got one out on a sacrifice fly by Jim Edmonds before giving way to closer Brian Fuentes, who got the final two outs and recorded his eighth save.
Staff writer Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-820-5459 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
