NL: COLORADO at ARIZONA <div class="pre">NL AT ARIZONA - PITCHING CHANGE COL: MANNY CORPAS (NO RECORD) STARTING THE 9TH CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 5, ARIZONA 1 DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: J UPTON (.000, 0-FOR-2)</div>
NL: COLORADO at ARIZONA <div class="pre">NL AT ARIZONA - MID INNING UPDATE PLAY: M Corpas relieved B Fuentes. SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 5 ARIZONA 1 BOTTOM, 9TH DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: J Upton (.000, 0-FOR-2)</div>
NL: COLORADO at ARIZONA <div class="pre">NL AT ARIZONA - MID INNING UPDATE PLAY: C Sullivan in center field. SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 5 ARIZONA 1 BOTTOM, 9TH DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: J Upton (.000, 0-FOR-2)</div>
NL: COLORADO at ARIZONA <div class="pre">NL AT ARIZONA - MID INNING UPDATE PLAY: J Salazar hit for J Upton. SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 5 ARIZONA 1 BOTTOM, 9TH DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: J Salazar (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI)</div>
NL: COLORADO at ARIZONA <div class="pre">NL AT ARIZONA - MID INNING UPDATE PLAY: M Montero hit for T Pena. SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 2 OUTS CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 5 ARIZONA 1 BOTTOM, 9TH DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: M Montero (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI)</div>
NL: COLORADO at ARIZONA <div class="pre">NL FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - COLORADO 0 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 8 0 ARIZONA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 1 (FINAL) BATTERIES: COL - JEFF FRANCIS, MATT HERGES (7TH), JEREMY AFFELDT (7TH), BRIAN FUENTES (8TH), MANNY CORPAS (9TH) AND YORVIT TORREALBA ARI - BRANDON WEBB, JUAN CRUZ (7TH), DOUG SLATEN (7TH), DUSTIN NIPPERT (8TH), TONY PENA (9TH) AND CHRIS SNYDER HOME RUNS: COL - NONE ARI - NONE</div>
NL: COLORADO at ARIZONA <div class="pre">NL FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - COLORADO 0 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 8 0 ARIZONA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 1 (FINAL) BATTERIES: COL - JEFF FRANCIS, MATT HERGES (7TH), JEREMY AFFELDT (7TH), BRIAN FUENTES (8TH), MANNY CORPAS (9TH) AND YORVIT TORREALBA ARI - BRANDON WEBB, JUAN CRUZ (7TH), DOUG SLATEN (7TH), DUSTIN NIPPERT (8TH), TONY PENA (9TH) AND CHRIS SNYDER WP - JEFF FRANCIS (1-0) LP - BRANDON WEBB (0-1) SAVE - NONE HOME RUNS: COL - NONE ARI - NONE TIME: 3:12 ATT: 48,142 PROBABLES: COL - UBALDO JIMENEZ (NR) ARI - DOUG DAVIS (NR)</div>
NL: COLORADO at ARIZONA <div class="pre">COLORADO (5) VS ARIZONA (1) - FINAL COLORADO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg W Taveras cf 5 1 1 0 0 2 1 .200 M Corpas p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 K Matsui 2b 5 1 1 1 0 2 1 .200 M Holliday lf 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 .333 T Helton 1b 4 1 1 0 0 0 4 .250 G Atkins 3b 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .333 B Hawpe rf 3 0 2 2 1 1 0 .667 T Tulowitzki ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 4 .250 Y Torrealba c 3 1 0 0 1 2 2 .000 J Francis p 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 M Herges p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 J Affeldt p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 B Fuentes p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 a-C Sullivan ph-cf 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Totals 33 5 8 3 4 10 12 a-struck out looking for B Fuentes in the 9th. BATTING: S - J Francis. RBI - K Matsui (1), B Hawpe 2 (2). 2-out RBI - B Hawpe 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Y Torrealba 1, T Helton 1, T Tulowitzki 1. GIDP - T Tulowitzki. Team LOB - 6. BASERUNNING: SB - W Taveras (1, 2nd base off B Webb/C Snyder), K Matsui (1, 2nd base off J Cruz/C Snyder). Picked Off - B Hawpe (1st base, B Webb). FIELDING: Outfield assists - M Holliday (M Montero at 2nd base). DP: 3 (G Atkins-K Matsui-T Helton 2, T Tulowitzki-K Matsui-T Helton). ARIZONA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg C Young cf 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 .000 S Drew ss 4 1 1 0 0 1 5 .250 E Byrnes lf 4 0 2 1 0 1 0 .500 C Jackson 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .250 M Reynolds 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 C Snyder c 4 0 1 0 0 2 2 .250 J Upton rf 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 b-J Salazar ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 A Ojeda 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .250 B Webb p 2 0 1 0 0 1 1 .500 J Cruz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 D Slaten p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 a-J Cirillo ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.000 D Nippert p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 T Pena p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 c-M Montero ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.000 Totals 32 1 9 1 2 6 13 a-reached on bunt single to third for D Slaten in the 7th; b-flied out to right for J Upton in the 9th; c-singled to deep left for T Pena in the 9th. BATTING: 2B - E Byrnes (1, J Francis); C Snyder (1, J Francis). RBI - E Byrnes (1). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - S Drew 3, M Reynolds 1. GIDP - C Snyder, C Jackson. Team LOB - 8. FIELDING: E - C Jackson (1, ground ball). PB - C Snyder. DP: 1 (S Drew-A Ojeda-C Jackson). ---------------------------------------------------- COLORADO - 013 000 100 -- 5 ARIZONA - 100 000 000 -- 1 ---------------------------------------------------- COLORADO ip h r er bb so hr era J Francis (W, 1-0) 6 2/3 7 1 1 1 4 0 1.35 M Herges (H, 1) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 ### J Affeldt (H, 1) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 B Fuentes 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 M Corpas 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 ARIZONA ip h r er bb so hr era B Webb (L, 0-1) 6 7 4 4 2 4 0 6.00 J Cruz 2/3 0 1 0 2 1 0 0.00 D Slaten 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 D Nippert 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 T Pena 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.00 M Herges pitched to 1 batter in the 7th. WP - B Webb, J Cruz. HBP - M Reynolds (by J Francis); J Upton (by J Francis). Pitches-strikes: J Francis 89-54; M Herges 7-3; J Affeldt 1-1; B Fuentes 17-12; M Corpas 7-5; B Webb 98-61; J Cruz 24-10; D Slaten 2-1; D Nippert 14-10; T Pena 12-9. Ground balls-fly balls: J Francis 10-5; M Herges 0-0; J Affeldt 0-1; B Fuentes 0-1; M Corpas 1-1; B Webb 10-3; J Cruz 1-0; D Slaten 0-1; D Nippert 0-1; T Pena 0-0. Batters faced: J Francis 27; M Herges 1; J Affeldt 1; B Fuentes 4; M Corpas 3; B Webb 25; J Cruz 5; D Slaten 1; D Nippert 4; T Pena 3. UMPIRES: HP--Tim Mcclelland. 1B--Mark Wegner. 2B--Larry Vanover. 3B--Tom Hallion. LF--Angel Hernandez. RF--Jim Joyce. T--3:12. Att--48,142. Weather: 93 degrees, clear. Wind: 10 mph, in from center.</div>
NL: COLORADO at ARIZONA <div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COLORADO (5) AT ARIZONA (1) - HOW THEY SCORED ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ARIZONA 1ST: C Young flied out to left. S Drew singled to right. E Byrnes doubled to left, S Drew scored. C Jackson popped out to first. M Reynolds popped out to shortstop. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) COLORADO 0, ARIZONA 1. COLORADO 2ND: T Helton singled to left. G Atkins singled to left, T Helton to second. B Hawpe walked, T Helton to third, G Atkins to second. T Tulowitzki grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, T Helton scored, B Hawpe out at second, G Atkins to third. Y Torrealba struck out swinging. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) COLORADO 1, ARIZONA 1. COLORADO 3RD: J Francis grounded out to shortstop. W Taveras singled to center. W Taveras stole second. K Matsui singled to left center, W Taveras scored. M Holliday reached on infield single to third, K Matsui to second. T Helton lined out to center. K Matsui to third, M Holliday to second on wild pitch by B Webb. G Atkins walked. B Hawpe singled to right, K Matsui and M Holliday scored, G Atkins to second. T Tulowitzki grounded out to third. (3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) COLORADO 4, ARIZONA 1. COLORADO 7TH: J Cruz relieved B Webb. Y Torrealba walked. Y Torrealba to second on wild pitch by J Cruz. J Francis sacrificed to third, Y Torrealba to third. W Taveras struck out swinging. K Matsui safe at first on error by first baseman C Jackson, Y Torrealba scored. K Matsui stole second. M Holliday walked, K Matsui to third on passed ball. D Slaten relieved J Cruz. T Helton fouled out to third. (1 Run, 0 Hits, 1 Error) COLORADO 5, ARIZONA 1.</div>
NL: COLORADO at ARIZONA <div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COLORADO (5) AT ARIZONA (1) - EVENT LOG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Colorado Starting Lineups -- W Taveras CF, K Matsui 2B, M Holliday LF, T Helton 1B, G Atkins 3B, B Hawpe RF, T Tulowitzki SS, Y Torrealba C, J Francis LHP. Arizona Starting Lineups -- C Young CF, S Drew SS, E Byrnes LF, C Jackson 1B, M Reynolds 3B, C Snyder C, J Upton RF, A Ojeda 2B, B Webb RHP. Umpires -- Tim Mcclelland (HP), Mark Wegner (1B), Larry Vanover (2B), Tom Hallion (3B), Angel Hernandez (LF), Jim Joyce (RF). Gametime Weather: 93 degrees, Clear, wind in from center at 10 mph. COLORADO 1ST: W Taveras grounded out to third. K Matsui struck out looking. M Holliday struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) COLORADO 0, ARIZONA 0. ARIZONA 1ST: C Young flied out to left. S Drew singled to right. E Byrnes doubled to left, S Drew scored. C Jackson popped out to first. M Reynolds popped out to shortstop. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) COLORADO 0, ARIZONA 1. COLORADO 2ND: T Helton singled to left. G Atkins singled to left, T Helton to second. B Hawpe walked, T Helton to third, G Atkins to second. T Tulowitzki grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, T Helton scored, B Hawpe out at second, G Atkins to third. Y Torrealba struck out swinging. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) COLORADO 1, ARIZONA 1. ARIZONA 2ND: C Snyder struck out swinging. J Upton grounded out to second. A Ojeda singled to right center. B Webb struck out looking. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) COLORADO 1, ARIZONA 1. COLORADO 3RD: J Francis grounded out to shortstop. W Taveras singled to center. W Taveras stole second. K Matsui singled to left center, W Taveras scored. M Holliday reached on infield single to third, K Matsui to second. T Helton lined out to center. K Matsui to third, M Holliday to second on wild pitch by B Webb. G Atkins walked. B Hawpe singled to right, K Matsui and M Holliday scored, G Atkins to second. T Tulowitzki grounded out to third. (3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) COLORADO 4, ARIZONA 1. ARIZONA 3RD: C Young lined out to left. S Drew grounded out to first. E Byrnes flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) COLORADO 4, ARIZONA 1. COLORADO 4TH: Y Torrealba grounded out to third. J Francis grounded out to second. W Taveras grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) COLORADO 4, ARIZONA 1. ARIZONA 4TH: C Jackson grounded out to second. M Reynolds hit by pitch. C Snyder grounded into double play, third to second to first, M Reynolds out at second.(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) COLORADO 4, ARIZONA 1. COLORADO 5TH: K Matsui popped out to shortstop. M Holliday grounded out to first. T Helton grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) COLORADO 4, ARIZONA 1. ARIZONA 5TH: J Upton struck out swinging. A Ojeda grounded out to shortstop. B Webb singled to right. C Young walked, B Webb to second. S Drew struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) COLORADO 4, ARIZONA 1. COLORADO 6TH: G Atkins flied out to right. B Hawpe singled to center. T Tulowitzki struck out swinging. B Hawpe picked off first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) COLORADO 4, ARIZONA 1. ARIZONA 6TH: E Byrnes reached on infield single to shortstop. C Jackson grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, E Byrnes out at second. M Reynolds grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) COLORADO 4, ARIZONA 1. COLORADO 7TH: J Cruz relieved B Webb. Y Torrealba walked. Y Torrealba to second on wild pitch by J Cruz. J Francis sacrificed to third, Y Torrealba to third. W Taveras struck out swinging. K Matsui safe at first on error by first baseman C Jackson, Y Torrealba scored. K Matsui stole second. M Holliday walked, K Matsui to third on passed ball. D Slaten relieved J Cruz. T Helton fouled out to third. (1 Run, 0 Hits, 1 Error) COLORADO 5, ARIZONA 1. ARIZONA 7TH: C Snyder doubled to left. J Upton hit by pitch. A Ojeda grounded into double play, third to second to first, J Upton out at second. J Cirillo hit for D Slaten. J Cirillo reached on bunt single to third, C Snyder to third. M Herges relieved J Francis. C Young walked, J Cirillo to second. J Affeldt relieved M Herges. S Drew flied out to right. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) COLORADO 5, ARIZONA 1. COLORADO 8TH: D Nippert relieved D Slaten. G Atkins flied out to right. B Hawpe struck out looking. T Tulowitzki reached on infield single to third. Y Torrealba struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) COLORADO 5, ARIZONA 1. ARIZONA 8TH: B Fuentes relieved J Affeldt. E Byrnes struck out looking. C Jackson singled to center. M Reynolds flied out to center. C Snyder struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) COLORADO 5, ARIZONA 1. COLORADO 9TH: T Pena relieved D Nippert. C Sullivan hit for B Fuentes. C Sullivan struck out looking. W Taveras struck out looking. K Matsui struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) COLORADO 5, ARIZONA 1. ARIZONA 9TH: M Corpas relieved B Fuentes. C Sullivan in center field. J Salazar hit for J Upton. J Salazar flied out to right. A Ojeda grounded out to second. M Montero hit for T Pena. M Montero singled to deep left, M Montero out stretching at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) COLORADO 5, ARIZONA 1.</div>
Francis, Hawpe combine to get Rockies off to a quick start in NLCS <h3>COLORADO 5, ARIZONA 1</h3>PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Jeff Francis continues to have the ArizonaDiamondbacks' number at Chase Field. But that can't compare tothe pasting Brad Hawpe continues to apply to Brandon Webb. Francis pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Hawpe delivered a keytwo-run single as the streaking Colorado Rockies recorded a 5-1victory over the Diamondbacks in Game One of the National LeagueChampionship Series on Thursday, a contest marred by fansthrowing debris onto the field. The contest was interrupted for about 10 minutes in the bottomof the seventh inning when the umpires awarded the Rockies adouble play, ruling that Arizona rookie Justin Upton interferedwith second baseman Kaz Matsui, who was attempting to make arelay throw to first base. Francis (1-0), who pitched seven scoreless innings here on May23 and yielded two runs over six innings with eight strikeoutsin the opener of the NLCS against Philadelphia, put togetheranother fantastic performance. The 17-game winner in theregular season allowed a run, seven hits and a walk with fourstrikeouts in improving to 5-0 at Chase Field. The lefthander lost to Webb and the D-Backs, 4-2, on September28 - the Rockies' lone loss in their last 19 games - but got thebest of the 2006 Cy Young Award winner this night. Webb, who entered 1-3 with a 5.77 ERA this season againstColorado, struggled again against the Rockies and, as usual,Hawpe had a lot to do with it. The Rockies' right fielder entered 9-for-15 with three homersand 11 RBI against the D-Backs ace and added a two-out, two-runsingle during a three-run third and another base hit in thesixth. Webb (0-1) lasted six shaky innings in the biggest start of hiscareer, being charged with four runs and seven hits with twowalks and four strikeouts among his 98 pitches. After surrendering a first-inning run, Francis cruised untilWebb singled with two outs in the fifth and Chris Young worked awalk, but Francis regrouped and struck out a red-hot StephenDrew on a 3-2 fastball after the Arizona shortstop fouled offtwo pitches to end the frame. Drew entered the at-bat 8-for-16 in the postseason. Francis got his second double play of the night in the sixth anda controversial third in the seventh that prompted debris to bethrown onto the field, leading to the Rockies being taken offthe field. After a leadoff double by Chris Snyder, Francis hit Upton with apitch on his left thigh, drawing a sneer toward the mound bythe 20-year-old rookie. On a ground ball to third hit by Augie Ojeda, Upton went in hardat second base, hit the bag, but popped up, threw his right armout and rolled Matsui off his feet. The umpires ruled that Upton interfered with Matsui, who wasattempting to make a relay throw to first base. Arizona manager Bob Melvin came out and argued as the fans,mostly in the upper deck in right field, pelted the field withplastic water bottles and other debris. The actions prompted Rockies manager Clint Hurdle to pull hisclub off the field for about three minutes. After order was restored, pinch hitter Jeff Cirillo beat out aperfect bunt down the third base line, ending the night forFrancis. Matt Herges entered and walked Young to load the basesbefore Jeremy Affeldt retired Drew on a first-pitch flyout toright field. Brian Fuentes pitched a scoreless eighth and Manny Corpas closedout the ninth for Colorado, which will try to take a 2-0 leadon Friday. The Rockies didn't scorch the ball, but scored three times offWebb in the decisive third inning to take a 4-1 lead. Willy Taveras, who hadn't played since September 8 because of aright quadriceps injury, started the uprising with a one-outsingle to left. Showing why Colorado added him to the rosterfor this series, the speedster swiped second base and scoredeasily when Matsui fought off a high sinker and dumped it intoleft field for a base hit. Matt Holliday followed by rolling a ball down the third baseline that hit the bag. After Todd Helton flied out and a wildpitch advanced the runners to second and third, Garrett Atkinswalked to load the bases. Hawpe, who entered the at-bat 9-for-20 with the bases loaded,then looped a 0-1 breaking ball into right field, plating tworuns to cap the frame. Colorado added an insurance run in the seventh when Diamondbacksreliever Juan Cruz walked leadoff man Yorvit Torrealba, whoadvanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a sacrifice.After Taveras struck out, Matsui bounced a two-hopper off firstbaseman Conor Jackson's body for an error and a 5-1 lead. Arizona opened the scoring in the first inning when Drewgrounded a single that got under first baseman Helton's gloveand Eric Byrnes hit a first-pitch fastball inside into the leftfield corner, scoring Drew for a quick 1-0 lead. Colorado squared the contest in the second after loading thebases with nobody out, but were limited to just one run whenTroy Tulowitzki bounced into a double play, plating one run, andTorrealba struck out.
Francis, Hawpe combine to get Rockies off to a quick start in NLCS <h3>COLORADO 5, ARIZONA 1</h3>PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Jeff Francis continues to have the ArizonaDiamondbacks' number at Chase Field. But that can't compare tothe pasting Brad Hawpe continues to apply to Brandon Webb. Francis pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Hawpe delivered a keytwo-run single as the streaking Colorado Rockies recorded a 5-1victory over the Diamondbacks in Game One of the National LeagueChampionship Series on Thursday, a contest marred by fansthrowing debris onto the field. The contest was interrupted for about 10 minutes in the bottomof the seventh inning when the umpires awarded the Rockies adouble play, ruling that Arizona rookie Justin Upton interferedwith second baseman Kaz Matsui, who was attempting to make arelay throw to first base. "It was just fans being upset," Hawpe said. "It's too bad that afew bad fans can spoil it for all the good fans. But Iunderstand that the fans were pointing out the ones involved, soit was OK." Francis (1-0), who pitched seven scoreless innings here on May23 and yielded two runs over six innings with eight strikeoutsin the opener of the NLCS against Philadelphia, put togetheranother fantastic performance. "He's been unbelievable this year," Hawpe said. "He is thedefinition of a winner. He'll do whatever it takes to win agame." The 17-game winner in the regular season allowed a run, sevenhits and a walk with four strikeouts in improving to 5-0all-time at Chase Field. "I've had some success here in the past," Francis said. "Youtake it for what it is. I just try to go out and execute." The lefthander lost to Webb and the D-Backs, 4-2, on September28 - the Rockies' lone loss in their last 19 games - but got thebest of the 2006 Cy Young Award winner this night. "We got out to the lead and it's more comfortable pitching witha lead," Francis said about his rematch with Webb. "I justtried to get ahead. We also had tremendous defense." Webb, who entered 1-3 with a 5.77 ERA this season againstColorado, struggled again against the Rockies and, as usual,Hawpe had a lot to do with it. The Rockies' right fielder entered 9-for-15 with three homersand 11 RBI against the D-Backs ace and added a two-out, two-runsingle during a three-run third and another base hit in thesixth. Webb (0-1) lasted six shaky innings in the biggest start of hiscareer, being charged with four runs and seven hits with twowalks and four strikeouts among his 98 pitches. After surrendering a first-inning run, Francis cruised untilWebb singled with two outs in the fifth and Chris Young worked awalk, but Francis regrouped and struck out a red-hot StephenDrew on a 3-2 fastball after the Arizona shortstop fouled offtwo pitches to end the frame. Drew entered the at-bat 8-for-16 in the postseason. Francis got his second double play of the night in the sixth anda controversial third in the seventh that prompted debris to bethrown onto the field, leading to the Rockies being taken offthe field. After a leadoff double by Chris Snyder, Francis hit Upton with apitch on his left thigh, drawing a sneer toward the mound bythe 20-year-old rookie. On a ground ball to third hit by Augie Ojeda, Upton went in hardat second base, hit the bag, but popped up, threw his right armout and rolled Matsui off his feet. The umpires ruled that Upton interfered with Matsui, who wasattempting to make a relay throw to first base. Arizona manager Bob Melvin came out and argued as the fans,mostly in the upper deck in right field, pelted the field withplastic water bottles and other debris. The actions prompted Rockies manager Clint Hurdle to pull hisclub off the field for about three minutes. "You just try not to let it affect you," said Francis about thefans throwing debris onto the field. "You just try to stayfocused." After order was restored, pinch hitter Jeff Cirillo beat out aperfect bunt down the third base line, ending the night forFrancis. Matt Herges entered and walked Young to load the basesbefore Jeremy Affeldt retired Drew on a first-pitch flyout toright field. Brian Fuentes pitched a scoreless eighth and Manny Corpas closedout the ninth for Colorado, which will try to take a 2-0 leadon Friday. The Rockies didn't scorch the ball, but scored three times offWebb in the decisive third inning to take a 4-1 lead. Willy Taveras, who hadn't played since September 8 because of aright quadriceps injury, started the uprising with a one-outsingle to left. Showing why Colorado added him to the rosterfor this series, the speedster swiped second base and scoredeasily when Matsui fought off a high sinker and dumped it intoleft field for a base hit. Matt Holliday followed by rolling a ball down the third baseline that hit the bag. After Todd Helton flied out and a wildpitch advanced the runners to second and third, Garrett Atkinswalked to load the bases. Hawpe, who entered the at-bat 9-for-20 with the bases loaded,then looped a 0-1 breaking ball into right field, plating tworuns to cap the frame. Colorado added an insurance run in the seventh when Diamondbacksreliever Juan Cruz walked leadoff man Yorvit Torrealba, whoadvanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a sacrifice.After Taveras struck out, Matsui bounced a two-hopper off firstbaseman Conor Jackson's body for an error and a 5-1 lead. Arizona opened the scoring in the first inning when Drewgrounded a single that got under first baseman Helton's gloveand Eric Byrnes hit a first-pitch fastball inside into the leftfield corner, scoring Drew for a quick 1-0 lead. Colorado squared the contest in the second after loading thebases with nobody out, but were limited to just one run whenTroy Tulowitzki bounced into a double play, plating one run, andTorrealba struck out.
Francis, Hawpe combine to get Rockies off to a quick start in NLCS <h3>COLORADO 5, ARIZONA 1</h3>PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Jeff Francis continues to have the ArizonaDiamondbacks' number at Chase Field. But that can't compare tothe pasting Brad Hawpe continues to apply to Brandon Webb. Francis pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Hawpe delivered a keytwo-run single as the streaking Colorado Rockies recorded a 5-1victory over the Diamondbacks in Game One of the National LeagueChampionship Series on Thursday, a contest marred by fansthrowing debris onto the field. The contest was interrupted for about 10 minutes in the bottomof the seventh inning when the umpires awarded the Rockies adouble play, ruling that Arizona rookie Justin Upton interferedwith second baseman Kaz Matsui, who was attempting to make arelay throw to first base. "It was just fans being upset," Hawpe said. "It's too bad that afew bad fans can spoil it for all the good fans. But Iunderstand that the fans were pointing out the ones involved, soit was OK." Francis (1-0), who pitched seven scoreless innings here on May23 and yielded two runs over six innings with eight strikeoutsin the opener of the NLCS against Philadelphia, put togetheranother fantastic performance. "He's been unbelievable this year," Hawpe said. "He is thedefinition of a winner. He'll do whatever it takes to win agame." The 17-game winner in the regular season allowed a run, sevenhits and a walk with four strikeouts in improving to 5-0all-time at Chase Field. "I've had some success here in the past," Francis said. "Youtake it for what it is. I just try to go out and execute." "He's seen a lot of these hitters and has good command," saidColorado manager Clint Hurdle when asked to explain Francis'success against Arizona. "He has a slow heart beat and thatdoesn't hurt." The lefthander lost to Webb and the D-Backs, 4-2, on September28 - the Rockies' lone loss in their last 19 games - but got thebest of the 2006 Cy Young Award winner this night. "We got out to the lead and it's more comfortable pitching witha lead," Francis said about his rematch with Webb. "I justtried to get ahead. We also had tremendous defense." Webb, who entered 1-3 with a 5.77 ERA this season againstColorado, struggled again against the Rockies and, as usual,Hawpe had a lot to do with it. The Rockies' right fielder entered 9-for-15 with three homersand 11 RBI against the D-Backs ace and added a two-out, two-runsingle during a three-run third and another base hit in thesixth. Webb (0-1) lasted six shaky innings in the biggest start of hiscareer, being charged with four runs and seven hits with twowalks and four strikeouts among his 98 pitches. After surrendering a first-inning run, Francis cruised untilWebb singled with two outs in the fifth and Chris Young worked awalk, but Francis regrouped and struck out a red-hot StephenDrew on a 3-2 fastball after the Arizona shortstop fouled offtwo pitches to end the frame. Drew entered the at-bat 8-for-16 in the postseason. Francis got his second double play of the night in the sixth anda controversial third in the seventh that prompted debris to bethrown onto the field, leading to the Rockies being taken offthe field. After a leadoff double by Chris Snyder, Francis hit Upton with apitch on his left thigh, drawing a sneer toward the mound bythe 20-year-old rookie. On a ground ball to third hit by Augie Ojeda, Upton went in hardat second base, hit the bag, but popped up, threw his right armout and rolled Matsui off his feet. The umpires ruled that Upton interfered with Matsui, who wasattempting to make a relay throw to first base. Arizona manager Bob Melvin came out and argued as the fans,mostly in the upper deck in right field, pelted the field withplastic water bottles and other debris. "I thought (Upton) went out of his way to make contact," Hurdlesaid. "We were tired of getting water-bottled, so we pulled themoff. We needed to make a statement that enough is enough." The actions prompted Rockies manager Clint Hurdle to pull hisclub off the field for about three minutes. "You just try not to let it affect you," said Francis about thefans throwing debris onto the field. "You just try to stayfocused." After order was restored, pinch hitter Jeff Cirillo beat out aperfect bunt down the third base line, ending the night forFrancis. Matt Herges entered and walked Young to load the basesbefore Jeremy Affeldt retired Drew on a first-pitch flyout toright field. Brian Fuentes pitched a scoreless eighth and Manny Corpas closedout the ninth for Colorado, which will try to take a 2-0 leadon Friday. The Rockies didn't scorch the ball, but scored three times offWebb in the decisive third inning to take a 4-1 lead. Willy Taveras, who hadn't played since September 8 because of aright quadriceps injury, started the uprising with a one-outsingle to left. Showing why Colorado added him to the rosterfor this series, the speedster swiped second base and scoredeasily when Matsui fought off a high sinker and dumped it intoleft field for a base hit. Matt Holliday followed by rolling a ball down the third baseline that hit the bag. After Todd Helton flied out and a wildpitch advanced the runners to second and third, Garrett Atkinswalked to load the bases. Hawpe, who entered the at-bat 9-for-20 with the bases loaded,then looped a 0-1 breaking ball into right field, plating tworuns to cap the frame. Colorado added an insurance run in the seventh when Diamondbacksreliever Juan Cruz walked leadoff man Yorvit Torrealba, whoadvanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a sacrifice.After Taveras struck out, Matsui bounced a two-hopper off firstbaseman Conor Jackson's body for an error and a 5-1 lead. Arizona opened the scoring in the first inning when Drewgrounded a single that got under first baseman Helton's gloveand Eric Byrnes hit a first-pitch fastball inside into the leftfield corner, scoring Drew for a quick 1-0 lead. Colorado squared the contest in the second after loading thebases with nobody out, but were limited to just one run whenTroy Tulowitzki bounced into a double play, plating one run, andTorrealba struck out.
Francis, Hawpe combine to get Rockies off to a quick start in NLCS <h3>COLORADO 5, ARIZONA 1</h3>PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Jeff Francis continues to have the ArizonaDiamondbacks' number at Chase Field. But that can't compare tothe pasting Brad Hawpe continues to apply to Brandon Webb. Francis pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Hawpe delivered a keytwo-run single as the streaking Colorado Rockies recorded a 5-1victory over the Diamondbacks in Game One of the National LeagueChampionship Series on Thursday, a contest marred by fansthrowing debris onto the field. The contest was interrupted for about 10 minutes in the bottomof the seventh inning when the umpires awarded the Rockies adouble play, ruling that Arizona rookie Justin Upton interferedwith second baseman Kaz Matsui, who was attempting to make arelay throw to first base. "It was just fans being upset," Hawpe said. "It's too bad that afew bad fans can spoil it for all the good fans. But Iunderstand that the fans were pointing out the ones involved, soit was OK." Francis (1-0), who pitched seven scoreless innings here on May23 and yielded two runs over six innings with eight strikeoutsin the opener of the NLCS against Philadelphia, put togetheranother fantastic performance. "He's been unbelievable this year," Hawpe said. "He is thedefinition of a winner. He'll do whatever it takes to win agame." The 17-game winner in the regular season allowed a run, sevenhits and a walk with four strikeouts in improving to 5-0all-time at Chase Field. "I've had some success here in the past," Francis said. "Youtake it for what it is. I just try to go out and execute." "He's seen a lot of these hitters and has good command," saidColorado manager Clint Hurdle when asked to explain Francis'success against Arizona. "He has a slow heart beat and thatdoesn't hurt." The lefthander lost to Webb and the D-Backs, 4-2, on September28 - the Rockies' lone loss in their last 19 games - but got thebest of the 2006 Cy Young Award winner this night. "We got out to the lead and it's more comfortable pitching witha lead," Francis said about his rematch with Webb. "I justtried to get ahead. We also had tremendous defense." Webb, who entered 1-3 with a 5.77 ERA this season againstColorado, struggled again against the Rockies and, as usual,Hawpe had a lot to do with it. The Rockies' right fielder entered 9-for-15 with three homersand 11 RBI against the D-Backs ace and added a two-out, two-runsingle during a three-run third and another base hit in thesixth. Webb (0-1) lasted six shaky innings in the biggest start of hiscareer, being charged with four runs and seven hits with twowalks and four strikeouts among his 98 pitches. "I felt like I had pretty good stuff and was making pitches. Togive up that many hits and that many runs when you have yourgood stuff is kind of a waste," Webb said. "To give up threeruns in the one inning on not one hard it ball is frustrating." After surrendering a first-inning run, Francis cruised untilWebb singled with two outs in the fifth and Chris Young worked awalk, but Francis regrouped and struck out a red-hot StephenDrew on a 3-2 fastball after the Arizona shortstop fouled offtwo pitches to end the frame. Drew entered the at-bat 8-for-16 in the postseason. Francis got his second double play of the night in the sixth anda controversial third in the seventh that prompted debris to bethrown onto the field, leading to the Rockies being taken offthe field. After a leadoff double by Chris Snyder, Francis hit Upton with apitch on his left thigh, drawing a sneer toward the mound bythe 20-year-old rookie. On a ground ball to third hit by Augie Ojeda, Upton went in hardat second base, hit the bag, but popped up, threw his right armout and rolled Matsui off his feet. The umpires ruled that Upton interfered with Matsui, who wasattempting to make a relay throw to first base. "You had an obvious intent on the part of the runner to break upthe double play and when it turns into intentional that is whenhe is out for interference," second base umpire Larry Vanoversaid. "Once he got up to the base I thought he threw his hip upinto the guy and his intent is not to get to the base. "Obviously I was surprised by the call because I thought I wasplaying the game of baseball," Upton said. "I went in and thatis what I am suppose to do, but the umpire made the decision andthere is nothing I can do about it." Arizona manager Bob Melvin came out and argued as the fans,mostly in the upper deck in right field, pelted the field withplastic water bottles and other debris. "I thought (Upton) went out of his way to make contact," Hurdlesaid. "We were tired of getting water-bottled, so we pulled themoff. We needed to make a statement that enough is enough." "I felt like he (Upton) could get the base so obviously I didn'tagree with the call," Melvin said. "Obviously we don't condonethat. You don't want stuff thrown on the field. We are not infavor of that." The actions prompted Rockies manager Clint Hurdle to pull hisclub off the field for about three minutes. "Obviously, we don't condone that," Melvin said. "You don't wantstuff being thrown on the field. We're not in favor of that." "You just try not to let it affect you," said Francis about thefans throwing debris onto the field. "You just try to stayfocused." After order was restored, pinch hitter Jeff Cirillo beat out aperfect bunt down the third base line, ending the night forFrancis. Matt Herges entered and walked Young to load the basesbefore Jeremy Affeldt retired Drew on a first-pitch flyout toright field. "We had some situations where we could have done some damage andwe didn't," Melvin said. "We had a situation where with a basehit we could have knocked a couple in but we just didn't get itdone." Brian Fuentes pitched a scoreless eighth and Manny Corpas closedout the ninth for Colorado, which will try to take a 2-0 leadon Friday. The Rockies didn't scorch the ball, but scored three times offWebb in the decisive third inning to take a 4-1 lead. Willy Taveras, who hadn't played since September 8 because of aright quadriceps injury, started the uprising with a one-outsingle to left. Showing why Colorado added him to the rosterfor this series, the speedster swiped second base and scoredeasily when Matsui fought off a high sinker and dumped it intoleft field for a base hit. "I just know that the lineup we threw out there the last timeagainst him didn't work. I just thought we needed to go at thema different direction," Hurdle said. "We did with some of thepeople that have had some success against him. You can get aquick run with Willie and Kaz at the top putting extra pressureon them." Matt Holliday followed by rolling a ball down the third baseline that hit the bag. After Todd Helton flied out and a wildpitch advanced the runners to second and third, Garrett Atkinswalked to load the bases. Hawpe, who entered the at-bat 9-for-20 with the bases loadedthis season, then looped a 0-1 breaking ball into right field,plating two runs to cap the frame. "In that situation I just try to think that the pitcher is theone in trouble," Hawpe said. "I think he is the one in troubleand he has to make the right pitch and I'm in the driver'sseat." Colorado added an insurance run in the seventh when Diamondbacksreliever Juan Cruz walked leadoff man Yorvit Torrealba, whoadvanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a sacrifice.After Taveras struck out, Matsui bounced a two-hopper off firstbaseman Conor Jackson's body for an error and a 5-1 lead. Arizona opened the scoring in the first inning when Drewgrounded a single that got under first baseman Helton's gloveand Eric Byrnes hit a first-pitch fastball inside into the leftfield corner, scoring Drew for a quick 1-0 lead. Colorado squared the contest in the second after loading thebases with nobody out, but were limited to just one run whenTroy Tulowitzki bounced into a double play, plating one run, andTorrealba struck out.
Francis, Hawpe combine to get Rockies off to a quick start in NLCS <h3>COLORADO 5, ARIZONA 1</h3>PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Jeff Francis continues to have the ArizonaDiamondbacks' number at Chase Field. But that can't compare tothe pasting Brad Hawpe continues to apply to Brandon Webb. Francis pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Hawpe delivered a keytwo-run single as the streaking Colorado Rockies recorded a 5-1victory over the Diamondbacks in Game One of the National LeagueChampionship Series on Thursday, a contest marred by fansthrowing debris onto the field. The contest was interrupted for about 10 minutes in the bottomof the seventh inning when the umpires awarded the Rockies adouble play, ruling that Arizona rookie Justin Upton interferedwith second baseman Kaz Matsui, who was attempting to make arelay throw to first base. "It was just fans being upset," Hawpe said. "It's too bad that afew bad fans can spoil it for all the good fans. But Iunderstand that the fans were pointing out the ones involved, soit was OK." Francis (1-0), who pitched seven scoreless innings here on May23 and yielded two runs over six innings with eight strikeoutsin the opener of the NLCS against Philadelphia, put togetheranother fantastic performance. "He's been unbelievable this year," Hawpe said. "He is thedefinition of a winner. He'll do whatever it takes to win agame." The 17-game winner in the regular season allowed a run, sevenhits and a walk with four strikeouts in improving to 5-0all-time at Chase Field. "I've had some success here in the past," Francis said. "Youtake it for what it is. I just try to go out and execute." "He's seen a lot of these hitters and has good command," saidColorado manager Clint Hurdle when asked to explain Francis'success against Arizona. "He has a slow heart beat and thatdoesn't hurt." The lefthander lost to Webb and the D-Backs, 4-2, on September28 - the Rockies' lone loss in their last 19 games - but got thebest of the 2006 Cy Young Award winner this night. "We got out to the lead and it's more comfortable pitching witha lead," Francis said about his rematch with Webb. "I justtried to get ahead. We also had tremendous defense." Webb, who entered 1-3 with a 5.77 ERA this season againstColorado, struggled again against the Rockies and, as usual,Hawpe had a lot to do with it. The Rockies' right fielder entered 9-for-15 with three homersand 11 RBI against the D-Backs ace and added a two-out, two-runsingle during a three-run third and another base hit in thesixth. Webb (0-1) lasted six shaky innings in the biggest start of hiscareer, being charged with four runs and seven hits with twowalks and four strikeouts among his 98 pitches. "I felt like I had pretty good stuff and was making pitches. Togive up that many hits and that many runs when you have yourgood stuff is kind of a waste," Webb said. "To give up threeruns in the one inning on not one hard it ball is frustrating." After surrendering a first-inning run, Francis cruised untilWebb singled with two outs in the fifth and Chris Young worked awalk, but Francis regrouped and struck out a red-hot StephenDrew on a 3-2 fastball after the Arizona shortstop fouled offtwo pitches to end the frame. Drew entered the at-bat 8-for-16 in the postseason. Francis got his second double play of the night in the sixth anda controversial third in the seventh that prompted debris to bethrown onto the field, leading to the Rockies being taken offthe field. After a leadoff double by Chris Snyder, Francis hit Upton with apitch on his left thigh, drawing a sneer toward the mound bythe 20-year-old rookie. On a ground ball to third hit by Augie Ojeda, Upton went in hardat second base, hit the bag, but popped up, threw his right armout and rolled Matsui off his feet. The umpires ruled that Upton interfered with Matsui, who wasattempting to make a relay throw to first base. "You had an obvious intent on the part of the runner to break upthe double play and when it turns into intentional that is whenhe is out for interference," second base umpire Larry Vanoversaid. "Once he got up to the base I thought he threw his hip upinto the guy and his intent is not to get to the base. "Obviously I was surprised by the call because I thought I wasplaying the game of baseball," Upton said. "I went in and thatis what I am suppose to do, but the umpire made the decision andthere is nothing I can do about it." Arizona manager Bob Melvin came out and argued as the fans,mostly in the upper deck in right field, pelted the field withplastic water bottles and other debris. "I thought (Upton) went out of his way to make contact," Hurdlesaid. "We were tired of getting water-bottled, so we pulled themoff. We needed to make a statement that enough is enough." "I felt like he (Upton) could get the base so obviously I didn'tagree with the call," Melvin said. "Obviously we don't condonethat. You don't want stuff thrown on the field. We are not infavor of that." The actions prompted Rockies manager Clint Hurdle to pull hisclub off the field for about three minutes. "Obviously, we don't condone that," Melvin said. "You don't wantstuff being thrown on the field. We're not in favor of that." "You just try not to let it affect you," said Francis about thefans throwing debris onto the field. "You just try to stayfocused." After order was restored, pinch hitter Jeff Cirillo beat out aperfect bunt down the third base line, ending the night forFrancis. Matt Herges entered and walked Young to load the basesbefore Jeremy Affeldt retired Drew on a first-pitch flyout toright field. "We had some situations where we could have done some damage andwe didn't," Melvin said. "We had a situation where with a basehit we could have knocked a couple in but we just didn't get itdone." Brian Fuentes pitched a scoreless eighth and Manny Corpas closedout the ninth for Colorado, which will try to take a 2-0 leadon Friday. The Rockies didn't scorch the ball, but scored three times offWebb in the decisive third inning to take a 4-1 lead. Willy Taveras, who hadn't played since September 8 because of aright quadriceps injury, started the uprising with a one-outsingle to left. Showing why Colorado added him to the rosterfor this series, the speedster swiped second base and scoredeasily when Matsui fought off a high sinker and dumped it intoleft field for a base hit. "I just know that the lineup we threw out there the last timeagainst him didn't work. I just thought we needed to go at thema different direction," Hurdle said. "We did with some of thepeople that have had some success against him. You can get aquick run with Willie and Kaz at the top putting extra pressureon them." Matt Holliday followed by rolling a ball down the third baseline that hit the bag. After Todd Helton flied out and a wildpitch advanced the runners to second and third, Garrett Atkinswalked to load the bases. Hawpe, who entered the at-bat 9-for-20 with the bases loadedthis season, then looped a 0-1 breaking ball into right field,plating two runs to cap the frame. "In that situation I just try to think that the pitcher is theone in trouble," Hawpe said. "I think he is the one in troubleand he has to make the right pitch and I'm in the driver'sseat." Colorado added an insurance run in the seventh when Diamondbacksreliever Juan Cruz walked leadoff man Yorvit Torrealba, whoadvanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a sacrifice.After Taveras struck out, Matsui bounced a two-hopper off firstbaseman Conor Jackson's body for an error and a 5-1 lead. Arizona opened the scoring in the first inning when Drewgrounded a single that got under first baseman Helton's gloveand Eric Byrnes hit a first-pitch fastball inside into the leftfield corner, scoring Drew for a quick 1-0 lead. Colorado squared the contest in the second after loading thebases with nobody out, but were limited to just one run whenTroy Tulowitzki bounced into a double play, plating one run, andTorrealba struck out.
Francis, Hawpe combine to get Rockies off to a quick start in NLCS <h3>COLORADO 5, ARIZONA 1</h3>PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Jeff Francis continues to have the ArizonaDiamondbacks' number at Chase Field. But that can't compare tothe pasting Brad Hawpe continues to apply to Brandon Webb. Francis pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Hawpe delivered a keytwo-run single as the streaking Colorado Rockies recorded a 5-1victory over the Diamondbacks in Game One of the National LeagueChampionship Series on Thursday, a contest marred by fansthrowing debris onto the field. The contest was interrupted for about 10 minutes in the bottomof the seventh inning when the umpires awarded the Rockies adouble play, ruling that Arizona rookie Justin Upton interferedwith second baseman Kaz Matsui, who was attempting to make arelay throw to first base. "It was just fans being upset," Hawpe said. "It's too bad that afew bad fans can spoil it for all the good fans. But Iunderstand that the fans were pointing out the ones involved, soit was OK." Francis (1-0), who pitched seven scoreless innings here on May23 and yielded two runs over six innings with eight strikeoutsin the opener of the NLCS against Philadelphia, put togetheranother fantastic performance. "He's been unbelievable this year," Hawpe said. "He is thedefinition of a winner. He'll do whatever it takes to win agame." The 17-game winner in the regular season allowed a run, sevenhits and a walk with four strikeouts in improving to 5-0all-time at Chase Field. "I've had some success here in the past," Francis said. "Youtake it for what it is. I just try to go out and execute." "He's seen a lot of these hitters and has good command," saidColorado manager Clint Hurdle when asked to explain Francis'success against Arizona. "He has a slow heart beat and thatdoesn't hurt." The lefthander lost to Webb and the D-Backs, 4-2, on September28 - the Rockies' lone loss in their last 19 games - but got thebest of the 2006 Cy Young Award winner this night. "We got out to the lead and it's more comfortable pitching witha lead," Francis said about his rematch with Webb. "I justtried to get ahead. We also had tremendous defense." Webb, who entered 1-3 with a 5.77 ERA this season againstColorado, struggled again against the Rockies and, as usual,Hawpe had a lot to do with it. The Rockies' right fielder entered 9-for-15 with three homersand 11 RBI against the D-Backs ace and added a two-out, two-runsingle during a three-run third and another base hit in thesixth. "I am a low-ball hitter. I probably hit that pitch better thenI do the high ones," said Hawpe, trying to explain his successagainst Webb. "He is a sinkerball pitcher and keeps the balldown. He is as good as there is in this league. He is reallytough, he keeps coming at you so it is really fun to go up andbattle against him. Webb (0-1) lasted six shaky innings in the biggest start of hiscareer, being charged with four runs and seven hits with twowalks and four strikeouts among his 98 pitches. "I felt like I had pretty good stuff and was making pitches. Togive up that many hits and that many runs when you have yourgood stuff is kind of a waste," Webb said. "To give up threeruns in the one inning on not one hard it ball is frustrating." After surrendering a first-inning run, Francis cruised untilWebb singled with two outs in the fifth and Chris Young worked awalk, but Francis regrouped and struck out a red-hot StephenDrew on a 3-2 fastball after the Arizona shortstop fouled offtwo pitches to end the frame. Drew entered the at-bat 8-for-16 in the postseason. Francis got his second double play of the night in the sixth anda controversial third in the seventh that prompted debris to bethrown onto the field, leading to the Rockies being taken offthe field. After a leadoff double by Chris Snyder, Francis hit Upton with apitch on his left thigh, drawing a sneer toward the mound bythe 20-year-old rookie. On a ground ball to third hit by Augie Ojeda, Upton went in hardat second base, hit the bag, but popped up, threw his right armout and rolled Matsui off his feet. The umpires ruled that Upton interfered with Matsui, who wasattempting to make a relay throw to first base. "You had an obvious intent on the part of the runner to break upthe double play and when it turns into intentional that is whenhe is out for interference," second base umpire Larry Vanoversaid. "Once he got up to the base I thought he threw his hip upinto the guy and his intent is not to get to the base. "Obviously I was surprised by the call because I thought I wasplaying the game of baseball," Upton said. "I went in and thatis what I am suppose to do, but the umpire made the decision andthere is nothing I can do about it." Arizona manager Bob Melvin came out and argued as the fans,mostly in the upper deck in right field, pelted the field withplastic water bottles and other debris. "I thought (Upton) went out of his way to make contact," Hurdlesaid. "We were tired of getting water-bottled, so we pulled themoff. We needed to make a statement that enough is enough." "I felt like he (Upton) could get the base so obviously I didn'tagree with the call," Melvin said. The actions prompted Rockies manager Clint Hurdle to pull hisclub off the field for about three minutes. "Obviously, we don't condone that," Melvin said. "You don't wantstuff being thrown on the field. We're not in favor of that." "You just try not to let it affect you," said Francis about thefans throwing debris onto the field. "You just try to stayfocused." After order was restored, pinch hitter Jeff Cirillo beat out aperfect bunt down the third base line, ending the night forFrancis. Matt Herges entered and walked Young to load the basesbefore Jeremy Affeldt retired Drew on a first-pitch flyout toright field. "We had some situations where we could have done some damage andwe didn't," Melvin said. "We had a situation where with a basehit we could have knocked a couple in but we just didn't get itdone." Brian Fuentes pitched a scoreless eighth and Manny Corpas closedout the ninth for Colorado, which will try to take a 2-0 leadon Friday. The Rockies didn't scorch the ball, but scored three times offWebb in the decisive third inning to take a 4-1 lead. Willy Taveras, who hadn't played since September 8 because of aright quadriceps injury, started the uprising with a one-outsingle to left. Showing why Colorado added him to the rosterfor this series, the speedster swiped second base and scoredeasily when Matsui fought off a high sinker and dumped it intoleft field for a base hit. "I just know that the lineup we threw out there the last timeagainst him didn't work. I just thought we needed to go at thema different direction," Hurdle said. "We did with some of thepeople that have had some success against him. You can get aquick run with Willie and Kaz at the top putting extra pressureon them." Matt Holliday followed by rolling a ball down the third baseline that hit the bag. After Todd Helton flied out and a wildpitch advanced the runners to second and third, Garrett Atkinswalked to load the bases. Hawpe, who entered the at-bat 9-for-20 with the bases loadedthis season, then looped a 0-1 breaking ball into right field,plating two runs to cap the frame. "In that situation I just try to think that the pitcher is theone in trouble," Hawpe said. "I think he is the one in troubleand he has to make the right pitch and I'm in the driver'sseat." Colorado added an insurance run in the seventh when Diamondbacksreliever Juan Cruz walked leadoff man Yorvit Torrealba, whoadvanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a sacrifice.After Taveras struck out, Matsui bounced a two-hopper off firstbaseman Conor Jackson's body for an error and a 5-1 lead. Arizona opened the scoring in the first inning when Drewgrounded a single that got under first baseman Helton's gloveand Eric Byrnes hit a first-pitch fastball inside into the leftfield corner, scoring Drew for a quick 1-0 lead. Colorado squared the contest in the second after loading thebases with nobody out, but were limited to just one run whenTroy Tulowitzki bounced into a double play, plating one run, andTorrealba struck out.
Francis, Hawpe combine to get Rockies off to a quick start in NLCS <h3>COLORADO 5, ARIZONA 1</h3>PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Jeff Francis continues to have the ArizonaDiamondbacks' number at Chase Field. But that can't compare tothe pasting Brad Hawpe continues to apply to Brandon Webb. Francis pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Hawpe delivered a keytwo-run single as the streaking Colorado Rockies recorded a 5-1victory over the Diamondbacks in Game One of the National LeagueChampionship Series on Thursday, a contest marred by fansthrowing debris onto the field. The contest was interrupted for about 10 minutes in the bottomof the seventh inning when the fans started throwing debrisafter the umpires awarded the Rockies a double play. They ruledthat Arizona rookie Justin Upton interfered with second basemanKaz Matsui, who was attempting to make a relay throw to firstbase. "It was just fans being upset," Hawpe said. "It's too bad that afew bad fans can spoil it for all the good fans. But Iunderstand that the fans were pointing out the ones involved, soit was OK." Francis (1-0), who pitched seven scoreless innings here on May23 and yielded two runs over six innings with eight strikeoutsin the opener of the NLDS against Philadelphia, put togetheranother fantastic performance. "He's been unbelievable this year," Hawpe said. "He is thedefinition of a winner. He'll do whatever it takes to win agame." The 17-game winner in the regular season allowed a run, sevenhits and a walk with four strikeouts in improving to 5-0all-time at Chase Field. "I've had some success here in the past," Francis said. "Youtake it for what it is. I just try to go out and execute." "He's seen a lot of these hitters and has good command," saidColorado manager Clint Hurdle when asked to explain Francis'success against Arizona. "He has a slow heart beat and thatdoesn't hurt." The lefthander lost to Webb and the D-Backs, 4-2, on September28 - the Rockies' lone loss in their last 19 games - but got thebest of the 2006 Cy Young Award winner this night. "We got out to the lead and it's more comfortable pitching witha lead," Francis said about his rematch with Webb. "I justtried to get ahead. We also had tremendous defense." Webb, who entered 1-3 with a 5.77 ERA this season againstColorado, struggled again against the Rockies and, as usual,Hawpe had a lot to do with it. The Rockies' right fielder entered 9-for-15 with three homersand 11 RBI this season against the D-Backs ace and added atwo-out, two-run single during a three-run third and anotherbase hit in the sixth. "I am a low-ball hitter. I probably hit that pitch better thenI do the high ones," said Hawpe, trying to explain his successagainst Webb. "He is a sinkerball pitcher and keeps the balldown. He is as good as there is in this league. He is reallytough, he keeps coming at you so it is really fun to go up andbattle against him. Webb (0-1) lasted six shaky innings in the biggest start of hiscareer, being charged with four runs and seven hits with twowalks and four strikeouts among his 98 pitches. "I felt like I had pretty good stuff and was making pitches. Togive up that many hits and that many runs when you have yourgood stuff is kind of a waste," Webb said. "To give up threeruns in the one inning on not one hard it ball is frustrating." After surrendering a first-inning run, Francis cruised untilWebb singled with two outs in the fifth and Chris Young worked awalk, but Francis regrouped and struck out a red-hot StephenDrew on a 3-2 fastball after the Arizona shortstop fouled offtwo pitches to end the frame. Drew entered the at-bat 8-for-16 in the postseason. Francis got his second double play of the night in the sixth anda controversial third in the seventh that prompted debris to bethrown onto the field, leading to the Rockies being taken offthe field. After a leadoff double by Chris Snyder, Francis hit Upton with apitch on his left thigh, drawing a sneer toward the mound bythe 20-year-old rookie. On a ground ball to third hit by Augie Ojeda, Upton went in hardat second base, hit the bag, but popped up, threw his right armout and rolled Matsui off his feet. The umpires ruled that Upton interfered with Matsui, who wasattempting to make a relay throw to first base. "You had an obvious intent on the part of the runner to break upthe double play and when it turns into intentional that is whenhe is out for interference," second base umpire Larry Vanoversaid. "Once he got up to the base I thought he threw his hip upinto the guy and his intent is not to get to the base. "Obviously I was surprised by the call because I thought I wasplaying the game of baseball," Upton said. "I went in and thatis what I am suppose to do, but the umpire made the decision andthere is nothing I can do about it." Arizona manager Bob Melvin came out and argued as the fans,mostly in the upper deck in right field, pelted the field withplastic water bottles and other debris. "I thought (Upton) went out of his way to make contact," Hurdlesaid. "We were tired of getting water-bottled, so we pulled themoff. We needed to make a statement that enough is enough." "I felt like he (Upton) could get the base so obviously I didn'tagree with the call," Melvin said. The actions prompted Rockies manager Clint Hurdle to pull hisclub off the field for about three minutes. "Obviously, we don't condone that," Melvin said. "You don't wantstuff being thrown on the field. We're not in favor of that." "You just try not to let it affect you," said Francis about thefans throwing debris onto the field. "You just try to stayfocused." After order was restored, pinch hitter Jeff Cirillo beat out aperfect bunt down the third base line, ending the night forFrancis. Matt Herges entered and walked Young to load the basesbefore Jeremy Affeldt retired Drew on a first-pitch flyout toright field. "We had some situations where we could have done some damage andwe didn't," Melvin said. "We had a situation where with a basehit we could have knocked a couple in but we just didn't get itdone." Brian Fuentes pitched a scoreless eighth and Manny Corpas closedout the ninth for Colorado, which will try to take a 2-0 leadon Friday. The Rockies didn't scorch the ball, but scored three times offWebb in the decisive third inning to take a 4-1 lead. Willy Taveras, who hadn't played since September 8 because of aright quadriceps injury, started the uprising with a one-outsingle to left. Showing why Colorado added him to the rosterfor this series, the speedster swiped second base and scoredeasily when Matsui fought off a high sinker and dumped it intoleft field for a base hit. "I just know that the lineup we threw out there the last timeagainst him didn't work. I just thought we needed to go at thema different direction," Hurdle said. "We did with some of thepeople that have had some success against him. You can get aquick run with Willie and Kaz at the top putting extra pressureon them." Matt Holliday followed by rolling a ball down the third baseline that hit the bag. After Todd Helton flied out and a wildpitch advanced the runners to second and third, Garrett Atkinswalked to load the bases. Hawpe, who entered the at-bat 9-for-20 with the bases loadedthis season, then looped a 0-1 breaking ball into right field,plating two runs to cap the frame. "In that situation I just try to think that the pitcher is theone in trouble," Hawpe said. "I think he is the one in troubleand he has to make the right pitch and I'm in the driver'sseat." Colorado added an insurance run in the seventh when Diamondbacksreliever Juan Cruz walked leadoff man Yorvit Torrealba, whoadvanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a sacrifice.After Taveras struck out, Matsui bounced a two-hopper off firstbaseman Conor Jackson's body for an error and a 5-1 lead. Arizona opened the scoring in the first inning when Drewgrounded a single that got under first baseman Helton's gloveand Eric Byrnes hit a first-pitch fastball inside into the leftfield corner, scoring Drew for a quick 1-0 lead. Colorado squared the contest in the second after loading thebases with nobody out, but were limited to just one run whenTroy Tulowitzki bounced into a double play, plating one run, andTorrealba struck out.
