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Rockies look to open commanding lead in Game Two

Oct 4, 2007 - 2:06 PM Colorado at Philadelphia 3:07 pm EDT National League Division Series Game Two

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Colorado Rockies used a young lefthander to quiet the powerful Philadelphia Phillies lineup in Game One of the National League Division Series on Wednesday. They will try the same tactic in Game Two on Thursday.

Jeff Francis tossed six solid innings in outdueling Cole Hamels, and Matt Holliday added a solo home run as the Rockies defeated the Phillies, 4-2, to grab the early lead in the best-of-five series.

The 26-year-old Francis allowed two runs and four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. He struck out Chase Utley four times and Ryan Howard three.

Yorvit Torrealba had two hits and an RBI for Colorado, which closed out the season with wins in 14 of its last 15 games, including a 9-8 victory over the San Diego Padres in a one-game playoff on Monday.

The Rockies will try to keep rolling with rookie Franklin Morales (3-2, 3.43 ERA). The 21-year-old lefthander set a club record for consecutive scoreless innings by a starting pitcher with 20 1/3 that ended in late September. He ended up going 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA over his last four starts.

His scoreless streak began on September 11 at Citizens Bank Park, when he held the Phillies to three hits in five innings while striking out four.

"I'm not nervous, and I don't expect to get nervous, and I'm 100 percent ready for the game," Morales said about his start against the Phillies. "I thought that I would end the year in the big leagues because I know that I work hard, but I just have to focus on the situation that we are in the playoffs."

Philadelphia will counter with its own impressive rookie, Kyle Kendrick (10-4, 3.87). The 23-year-old righthander was not on the Phillies' 40-man roster to begin the season, but injuries to Jon Lieber, Brett Myers and Freddy Garcia forced the club to scramble, opening the door for Kendrick.

He got knocked around by the Rockies on September 12, surrendering four runs and seven hits in three innings to suffer his only loss in the final 1 1/2 months of the season.

"Obviously they have a good lineup and they have some guys with power and can swing the bats," Kendrick said. "You've got to mix it up, move the ball in and out, up and down, obviously they have a good lineup. So I'm going to go out (Thursday), you have to go out and get ahead and do what I've been doing all year."