He was 6-feet, 5-inches of arms, legs, knees and elbows, whirling his team back to relevance. For 2 hours and 16 minutes Monday night, he put a snarl on the Rockies’ face, with each pitch practically screaming for Colorado fans not to peek away from this fledgling club before Broncos training camp.
It was quite a show.
Jeff Francis posted his first complete game, suffocating the St. Louis Cardinals 7-0 on a two-hitter as the Rockies opened the season’s longest and most critical homestand.
“To win the way we did Sunday and back up this way, it can boost confidence,” second baseman Jamey Carroll said. “This is definitely something that can help spin things in a positive direction.”
Games at Coors Field were previously like a monster truck mash, and its stars were sluggers. Now it’s more Formula One, pitchers rewarded for strategy and precision. Few have ever been sharper in Denver than the Rockies’ starter. Even fans who wouldn’t know Jeff Francis from Francis Scott Key left the ballpark wondering if that was one of the best games they had ever seen.
Not only did the Rockies remain within striking distance of first place, they did so with a clenched fist. It was their eighth shutout victory this season and fourth of the complete-game variety, tying a franchise record.
“(Francis) worked us over. I didn’t even think he needed to take a shower,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “I am not even sure he worked up a sweat. … I think he could pitch again (today).”
In a game manager Clint Hurdle called a “masterpiece,” Francis (8-8) threw 129 pitches, the most since college, complementing 80 fastballs with a parachute changeup and his season’s best curve. He recorded eight strikeouts, matching his career high, picking up steam as a highlight defensive reel unfolded behind him.
“It was amazing. It makes a difference when you see them catching everything,” said Francis, who faced two batters above the minimum. “After the first two 1-2-3 innings, you could feel the momentum building.”
Francis didn’t allow a baserunner until the sixth inning, when catcher Yadier Molina’s bloop single barely eluded a diving Cory Sullivan. Francis said the hit was a relief, saying he preferred to focus on a win not the anxiety of making history.
He didn’t light up any radar guns, his fastest pitch clocking 87 mph. But he threw his four-seam fastball up in the zone, then dropped his sinker at the knees, the command of those pitches leaving the Cardinals vulnerable to anything off-speed.
“He was a pitcher who was able to throw a strike,” Cardinals slugger Scott Rolen said, “with everything he had.”
What little support Francis required arrived early, not unlike the thousands of red-clad Cardinals fans. They watched in the first inning as Garrett Atkins clobbered an Anthony Reyes changeup into the bleachers for his career-high 14th home run.
“We need four or five guys hot at the same time,” Atkins said. “We know that one guy isn’t going to carry us.”
Well, that’s not entirely accurate. Monday belonged to Francis, just as the game ball did that Todd Helton slammed into the pitcher’s glove following the final out.
“I don’t know where it’s going yet,” Francis said. “But I will definitely find a place for it.”
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-820-5457 or trenck@denverpost.com.
