PHOENIX — It started with a few bottles of water. Then beer containers. Before the fans at Chase Field were done, they had lost their dignity and their Arizona Diamondbacks had lost control of the National League Championship Series.
During this improbable three-week stretch, the Rockies have trumped aces, pounded closers and squashed dreams of three teams. On a warm Thursday night, they tiptoed through the seventh-inning litter before depositing the Diamondbacks in the trash with a convincing 5-1 victory in Game 1.
The Rockies cannot say this game is more significant. They are too humble to hint that they just might have demoralized the Diamondbacks. But the graffiti is on the wall.
Colorado won for the 18th time in its past 19 games by slugging Arizona’s Brandon Webb in the face. This can’t be overstated. The Diamondbacks were at home. They had swept the Chicago Cubs in the division series. This was their chance to make a statement that this was going to be a bare-knuckle, drawn-out brawl. Instead, Webb weeble-wobbled and staggered through the first three innings.
By the time the crowd finally arrived— darn rush-hour traffic — the Rockies led 4-1 after three innings. Brad Hawpe delivered the key hit, scoring two runs with a single to right field. It made perfect sense when glancing at the stats. Hawpe is now 15-for-40 against Webb, and he has 68 two-out RBIs, second only to the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez (70) this season.
Given the way the Rockies are playing, the early cushion amounted to giving a cheetah a head start. It certainly helped Jeff Francis make quick work of the Diamondbacks. He permitted just a single run in 6-2/3 innings. During this streak, he’s 4-1 with a 2.70 ERA and a startling 35 strikeouts in 331/3 innings.
This was vindication for Francis. Webb outdueled him Sept. 28 at Coors Field, a 4-2 loss that Francis felt at the time would nudge the Rockies out of the playoffs. With two runners on in the fifth, the left-hander got angry, firing three straight 89 mph, full-count fastballs to Stephen Drew, finally striking him out as the Rockies won their ninth straight road game. They haven’t lost in a visiting park since Sept. 13 at Philadelphia.
Drew’s at-bat amounted to drama until an ugly seventh inning when the Arizona fans brought shame to the game. It played out this way: Arizona had runners on first and second. Augie Ojeda hit a groundball to third baseman Garrett Atkins that he flung to second baseman Kazuo Matsui. Justin Upton slid late, then delivered a right forearm into Matsui’s leg, upending him. Todd Helton immediately signaled that the double play should enforced because of interference.
Second-base umpire Larry Vanover agreed. Embarrassment followed. Arizona manager Bob Melvin argued. Fans fired debris onto the field, then Rockies boss Clint Hurdle called for his players come into the dugout.
As with everything since Sept. 15, the trash was merely a bug on the Rockies’ windshield as they raced ahead in their first-ever NLCS.
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
