ST. LOUIS — Rain could do what Jeff Francis could not: slow the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Rockies’ opener at Busch Stadium was postponed until Tuesday night at 6:15 p.m. MST after relentless rain. In order to keep the rotation on regular rest, reliever Kip Wells will start Tuesday against St. Louis’ Kyle Lohse.
Francis was certainly in favor of the slate being wiped clean.
As Colorado’s ace, Francis often throws up before games. He could be forgiven if he still felt nauseous during the Rockies’ soggy opening day at Busch Stadium.
Of his first 19 pitches, 17 were balls. He missed the strike zone on his first 10 pitches, prompting three interventions from catcher Yorvit Torrealba, pitching coach Bob Apodaca and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. Before Francis could calm his nerves, the Cardinals had jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning before the game was halted because of relentless rain.
Francis couldn’t throw a strike. He opened with a pair of four-pitch walks to Skip Schumaker and Ryan Ludwick. On a 2-0 count, Albert Pujols swung and missed. He eventually lined out, but following a third walk to Troy Glaus, Francis’ sloppiness cost him.
Rick Ankiel doubled home two runs with a shot down the right-field line. Yadier Molina followed with a single to right that locked up first baseman Todd Helton, inflating St. Louis’ lead to 4-1. Helton appeared to have a chance on the groundball, but tried to backhand it even though the ball was in front of him.
Pujols punished Francis in the second with a solo home run to left field. The Rockies provided Francis a 1-0 lead in their first at-bat. After a Willy Taveras single, Helton double and Matt Holliday walk, Garrett Atkins plated the season’s first run with a broken-bat groundball to third off Cardinals’ starter Adam Wainwright.
Schumaker thwarted a potential big-inning by making a diving catch of Tulowitzki’s line shot to left-center after Taveras had led off with a single.
