GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NL: LA DODGERS (57-46) at COLORADO (51-51)

Francis shines, hitters flash home-field power to lift Rockies

<h3>COLORADO 6, LA DODGERS 2</h3>DENVER (Ticker) -- Every so often, the Colorado Rockies revisittheir power-hitting days at Coors Field.


Jeff Francis tossed a stellar seven-plus innings and theColorado Rockies used three home runs to cruise to a 6-2 victoryover the Los Angeles Dodgers.


Francis (11-5), who had struggled with a 4-3 record and a 4.73ERA at home this season, handcuffed the Dodgers, yielding tworuns and seven hits over 7 2/3 innings, just one out short ofmatching his season high.


The lefthander set down the first nine batters he faced beforeallowing a drag bunt by Rafael Furcal to open the fourth.

Francis has not suffered a loss since June 8, going 6-0 despitea 4.68 ERA over that time.


Matt Holliday blasted a two-run homer off Dodgers starter BrettTomko (2-8) just over the right-field wall in the first inningto give the Rockies an early 2-0 advantage and Troy Tulowitzkiadded with his own two-run home run in the second to spark athree-run frame, helping the Rockies jump ahead, 5-0, after twoframes.


Garrett Atkins hit his 15th homer in the seventh and finishedjust a double short of the cycle for the Rockies, who ran to16-3 at home in games in which they hit two or more homers.

Tomko surrendered five runs and seven hits with four walks oversix frames for Los Angeles, which fell to 4-7 over its last 11contests.


Jeff Kent had two hits and extended his on-base streak to amajor league-best 37 games for the Dodgers.

 

NL: LA DODGERS at COLORADO

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LA DODGERS (2) AT COLORADO (6) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

La Dodgers Starting Lineups -- R Furcal SS, J Pierre CF, O Saenz 1B, J Kent 2B,
N Garciaparra 3B, M Kemp RF, A Ethier LF, M Lieberthal C, B Tomko RHP.

Colorado Starting Lineups -- R Spilborghs 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.

Umpires -- Doug Eddings (HP), Dana Demuth (1B), Derryl Cousins (2B), Kerwin
Danley (3B).

Gametime Weather: 78 degrees, Cloudy, wind out to right at 4 mph.


LA DODGERS 1ST: R Furcal flied out to right. J Pierre grounded out to
pitcher. O Saenz grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
LA DODGERS 0, COLORADO 0.

COLORADO 1ST: R Spilborghs walked. K Matsui flied out to center,
R Spilborghs to second. M Holliday homered to right, R Spilborghs scored.
T Helton grounded out to shortstop. G Atkins popped out to shortstop. (2 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0, COLORADO 2.

LA DODGERS 2ND: J Kent flied out to right. N Garciaparra flied out to
left. M Kemp grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0,
COLORADO 2.

COLORADO 2ND: B Hawpe walked. T Tulowitzki homered to left, B Hawpe
scored. Y Torrealba reached on infield single to shortstop. J Francis
sacrificed to pitcher, Y Torrealba to second. R Spilborghs singled to left,
Y Torrealba scored, R Spilborghs to second advancing on throw. K Matsui popped
out to shortstop. M Holliday grounded out to shortstop. (3 Runs, 3 Hits,
0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0, COLORADO 5.

LA DODGERS 3RD: A Ethier grounded out to pitcher. M Lieberthal grounded
out to shortstop. B Tomko struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
LA DODGERS 0, COLORADO 5.

COLORADO 3RD: T Helton struck out looking. G Atkins singled to left.
B Hawpe walked, G Atkins to second. T Tulowitzki popped out to shortstop.
Y Torrealba struck out looking. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0,
COLORADO 5.

LA DODGERS 4TH: R Furcal reached on bunt single to catcher. J Pierre
sacrificed to pitcher, R Furcal to second. O Saenz struck out swinging.
J Kent singled to right center, R Furcal scored. N Garciaparra grounded into
fielder's choice to pitcher, J Kent out at second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
LA DODGERS 1, COLORADO 5.

COLORADO 4TH: J Francis singled to left. R Spilborghs flied out to right.
K Matsui popped out to shortstop. M Holliday grounded out to second. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 1, COLORADO 5.

LA DODGERS 5TH: M Kemp struck out looking. A Ethier singled to center.
M Lieberthal flied out to left. B Tomko struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) LA DODGERS 1, COLORADO 5.

COLORADO 5TH: T Helton lined out to right. G Atkins tripled to deep left
center. B Hawpe struck out swinging. T Tulowitzki walked. Y Torrealba struck
out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 1, COLORADO 5.

LA DODGERS 6TH: R Furcal grounded out to shortstop. J Pierre grounded out
to shortstop. O Saenz flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
LA DODGERS 1, COLORADO 5.

COLORADO 6TH: J Francis flied out to center. R Spilborghs grounded out to
shortstop. K Matsui popped out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
LA DODGERS 1, COLORADO 5.

LA DODGERS 7TH: J Kent singled to center. N Garciaparra doubled to deep
right center, J Kent to third. M Kemp struck out swinging. A Ethier singled
to right center, J Kent scored, N Garciaparra to third. M Lieberthal fouled
out to first. R Martin hit for B Tomko. R Martin popped out to second. (1 Run,
3 Hits, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 2, COLORADO 5.

COLORADO 7TH: R Seanez relieved B Tomko. M Holliday struck out swinging.
T Helton struck out swinging. G Atkins homered to left. B Hawpe struck out
swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 2, COLORADO 6.

LA DODGERS 8TH: R Furcal singled to right. J Pierre grounded out to
pitcher, R Furcal to second. O Saenz lined out to left. J Julio relieved
J Francis. J Kent grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
LA DODGERS 2, COLORADO 6.

COLORADO 8TH: R Hernandez relieved R Seanez. T Tulowitzki safe at first on
fielding error by third baseman N Garciaparra, T Tulowitzki to second on
throwing error by third baseman N Garciaparra. Y Torrealba singled to right,
T Tulowitzki to third. J Baker hit for J Julio. J Baker lined into double play,
to third, T Tulowitzki doubled off third. R Spilborghs grounded out to third.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 2 Errors) LA DODGERS 2, COLORADO 6.

LA DODGERS 9TH: M Corpas relieved J Julio. C Sullivan in center field.
N Garciaparra hit a ground rule double to deep left center. J Loney hit for
M Kemp. J Loney lined out to second. A Ethier grounded out to first,
N Garciaparra to third. M Lieberthal popped out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) LA DODGERS 2, COLORADO 6.</div>

 

Francis shines, hitters flash home-field power to lift Rockies

<h3>COLORADO 6, LA DODGERS 2</h3>DENVER (Ticker) -- Every so often, the Colorado Rockies revisittheir power-hitting days at Coors Field.


Jeff Francis tossed a stellar seven-plus innings and theColorado Rockies used three home runs to cruise to a 6-2 victoryover the Los Angeles Dodgers.


Francis (11-5), who had struggled with a 4-3 record and a 4.73ERA at home this season, handcuffed the Dodgers, yielding tworuns and seven hits over 7 2/3 innings, just one out short ofmatching his season high.


The lefthander set down the first nine batters he faced beforeallowing a drag bunt by Rafael Furcal to open the fourth.

"The five-run lead helped," Francis said. "When you've got arunner on in the fourth with a five-run lead, you're not tooworried about him. You can concentrate on the batter. Theyscored one and I was able to get out of it. It's a big step."

Francis has not suffered a loss since June 8, going 6-0 despitea 4.68 ERA over that time.


Matt Holliday blasted a two-run homer off Dodgers starter BrettTomko (2-8) just over the right field wall in the first inningto give the Rockies an early 2-0 advantage and Troy Tulowitzkiadded with his own two-run home run in the second to spark athree-run frame, helping the Rockies jump ahead, 5-0, after twoframes.


"Holliday gets us off right out of the jump," Rockies managerClint Hurdle said. "We (also) had a big swing of the bat from(Tulowitzki)."


Garrett Atkins hit his 15th homer in the seventh and finishedjust a double short of the cycle for the Rockies, who ran to16-3 at home in games in which they hit two or more homers.

"Guys are stepping up and (Atkins) stepped up big tonight,"Hurdle said.


Tomko surrendered five runs and seven hits with four walks oversix frames for Los Angeles, which fell to 4-7 over its last 11contests.


"I thought early on he missed some pitches," Dodgers managerGrady Little said. "He could have been overthrowing there alittle bit in the first couple of innings and had to pay for it.But he settled in after that and gave us a few more innings.

"He'll be back out there again in a few days and get it back ontrack. We felt like he did turn it around there to finish thosefour innings; we just didn't have the bats to catch up."

Jeff Kent had two hits and extended his on-base streak to amajor league-best 37 games for the Dodgers, who saw theirseason-best streak of nine straight games with a homer came toan end.