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Francis sharp as Rockies top Giants

Aug 26, 2008 - 6:27 AM By Al Barba PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Jeff Francis won for the first time in over two months and Yorvit Torrealba hit a two-run home run against his former club as the Colorado Rockies defeated the San Francisco Giants, 4-2, in the opener of a three-game series Monday.

Colorado posted its eighth victory in its last 10 games and snapped San Francisco's season-high five-game winning streak.

Francis (4-8), who worked out of a key bases-loaded no-out jam in the third inning, allowed two runs and seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts over seven frames as he registered his first victory since defeating the Cleveland Indians on June 18.

"It's a good feeling. I'm making better pitches now then I was before," Francis said. "I'm commanding my fastball a lot better and I'm able to stay ahead a lot more in the count. It's nice to be able to go seven innings and give us a chance to win."

The 27-year-old lefthander was sidelined for over a month with inflammation in his throwing shoulder.

"The confidence is there, whether I execute it or not. I always feel the next time out I'm going to be able to make the adjustments," Francis said. "You can build from start-to-start and I've done some good things my last three times out."

San Francisco, which had a knack for coming up with the clutch hit during its winning streak, was stifled by Francis as the Giants were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

"Anytime you can dodge a situation like that I think some momentum can swing your way," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said of the bases-loaded jam. "The game for Jeff was very similar to the game in Los Angeles. A handful of pitches early and they clipped him."

Manuel Corpas pitched a scoreless eighth inning before Brian Fuentes worked the ninth to record his 26th save of the season.

Troy Tulowitzki's RBI single in the fourth inning scored Omar Quitanilla with the go-ahead run and pinch-hitter Jeff Baker tacked on an insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

"It all comes down to execution. We're starting to execute better on the road," Hurdle said. "We've been waiting to have a starting pitcher get us into the eighth. It all starts with the starting pitcher."

Torrealba, who played for the Giants from 2001-05, tied the game with a two-run shot off San Francisco starter Matt Cain in the second inning.

"I can tell you I'm lucky I guess," said Torrealba, who entered the game batting .357 against Cain. "Because that's a really good young arm and he's only getting better. I've been hitting the ball good off him but he's a guy you've got to give a lot of credit to. He's still young and already the way he's pitching, that's really good."

Cain (8-10) worked six innings, yielding three runs and six hits with four walks and four strikeouts.

"I thought Matt pitched fine. He had a quality outing," Bochy said. "He made a mistake early in the game, but overall he pitched a good ballgame. He pitched well enough to win. We just couldn't get enough runs for him"

The Giants' only scoring against Francis came in the first inning. Randy Winn opened the frame with a single and scored on a triple into right-center field by Fred Lewis. One out later, Bengie Molina hit a sacrifice fly to plate Lewis.

San Francisco's only other scoring opportunity came in the third inning when it loaded the bases with no outs. However, Aaron Rowand hit a ground ball to third that forced Cain at the plate and Molina followed with an inning-ending double play.

"We had him (Francis) on the ropes and he got out of it. He got a couple of ground balls and a double play being one of the them," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "That was probably the difference in the game."