KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Most of the unexpected developments in the Rockies’ season have been anything but positive. The injuries, the defensive lapses, the power outage in the middle of the lineup . . . you name it and they’ve had to contend with it.
But here the Rockies sit, at 21-22, after Saturday’s 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Not only that, they have a new wingman for Ubaldo Jimenez. His name is Jeff Francis, and the left-hander is pitching like the Jeff Francis who won 17 games in 2007, not the one who has been in career limbo ever since.
Francis, fighting off a nasty cold, used a 90 mph fastball and a lethal changeup and curve to pitch 6 1/3 shutout innings against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. His performance came six days after a seven-inning, one-run performance against the Washington Nationals at Coors Field.
An unexpected development? To put it mildly.
“What I’ve seen in these first two starts we never even got a glimpse of over the course of six weeks in Tucson,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said of Francis. “We never saw this type of velocity. We didn’t see the ball coming out of his hand the way it’s coming out right now. What a boost for our club to have him back.”
Said shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who hit his second home run in three games, one more than he hit in the Rockies’ first 40 games: “It’s impressive to see him just get off the DL and pitch like this. I thought it would take him a little bit of time to get into it. It’s huge for our team, especially right now, how we’re playing.
“We know we’re a better team. At the same time, we’re plugging away getting wins here and there, even though we’re not scoring many runs. When Ubaldo and Jeff take the mound, we have a good chance to put up a few numbers.”
Francis didn’t allow more than one baserunner until the sixth inning. He left with one out and runners at the corners in the seventh, whereupon Joe Beimel and Matt Belisle got out of the jam unscathed.
Yes, said Francis, 20 months after surgery to repair his left labrum, he’s back to where he was in 2007, when he started Game 1 of the World Series.
“I feel like I’m throwing the ball as well as I can,” Francis said. “I’m spotting my fastball well and throwing my off-speed stuff for strikes and, for the most part, keeping hitters off-balance.”
Said Francis, when asked about the psychological lift he had given his teammates: “I’m just one guy out there every fifth day. As a starting staff, we need to keep doing the things we’re doing because we know those guys are going to turn it around. We know we’re going to put it together at some point.”
The Rockies are averaging 3.8 runs per game in May, compared with 5.3 in April. They haven’t scored more than four runs in eight consecutive games, but they’re hovering within a game of .500. And to a man, they believe better times are ahead.
“If you look at our division, each team has gotten hot,” Tulowitzki said. “We’re the only team that’s just kind of been holding on. We haven’t gotten hot and we’re known to get hot.
“Hopefully, we’re in striking distance when we really make our run.”
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
Looking ahead
TODAY: Rockies at Royals, 12:10 p.m., FSN
Aaron Cook (1-3, 5.13 ERA) is coming off arguably his best performance of the season, allowing one earned run in seven innings vs. the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Cook, 0-3, 6.84 on the road, will need his A-game sinker if he’s going to beat Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke (1-4, 2.72), who struck out 10 in his only start against the Rockies in 2008. Greinke has great movement on his fastball and a wipeout slider.
Jim Armstrong, The Denver Post
Upcoming pitching matchups
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Diamondbacks’ Ian Kennedy (3-2, 3.24 ERA) at Rockies’ Jhoulys Chacin (2-2, 3.12), 6:40 p.m., FSN
Wednesday: Diamondbacks’ Rodrigo Lopez (2-2, 4.42) at Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez (8-1, 0.99), 6:40 p.m., FSN
Thursday: Diamondbacks’ Dan Haren (4-3, 4.83) at Rockies’ Jason Hammel (1-2, 7.71), 1:10 p.m., FSN
