Phoenix – The telling moment in Sunday’s game came in the seventh inning when Arizona outfielder Eric Byrnes twisted into a pretzel chasing Jeff Francis’ nasty curveball.
Byrnes came away with a strikeout, and quite possibly the need for a chiropractor.
“I think I had a better breaking ball today than I had this year and most of last year as well,” Francis said.
The lanky left-hander (12-11) looked like the dominant pitcher who strutted a 1.85 ERA in July. Entering Sunday, the slumping Francis had a 7.71 ERA in his past five starts.
He threw eight innings in the 6-1 win, allowing one run on three hits to improve to 6-1 with a 3.74 ERA in 11 career starts against Arizona.
LET’S KEEP PLAYING: Saturday night’s 16-inning game, combined with the Rockies and Diamondbacks’ 18-inning game Aug. 15 at Coors Field, marked the first time since 1967 that two teams played each other in two extra-inning games in the same season that lasted 16 or more innings.
