October 03, 2007
Colordao Rockies @ Philadelphia Phillies
Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Series Tied: 0-0
Jeff Francis (0-0) vs. Cole Hamels (0-0)

Starting Lineups/Batting Order

Colorado Rockies:

Kazuo Matsui, 2B
Troy Tulowitzki, SS
Matt Holliday, LF
Todd Helton, 1B
Garret Atkins, 3B
Brad Hawpe, RF
Ryan Spilbourghs, CF
Yorvit Torrealba, C
Jeff Francis, P


Philadelphia Phillies:

Jimmy Rollins, SS
Shane Victorino, RF
Chase Utley, 2B
Ryan Howard, 1B
Aaron Rowand, CF
Pat Burrell, LF
Wes Helms, 3B
Carlos Ruiz, C
Cole Hamels, P

Main stats:

Colorado Rockies: 4
Philadelphia Philles: 2
Colorado leads series 1-0
WP: Jeff Francis (1-0)
LP: Cole Hamels (0-1)
S: Manny Corpas (1)

Notable Stats:

Matt Holliday, COL: 1-4, HR, R, RBI
Yorvit Torrealba, COL: 2-4, RBI
Garret Atkins, COL: 1-4, 2B, R, RBI
Jeff Francis, COL: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 8 SO

Jimmy Rollins, PHI: 0-3, BB, K
Chase Utley, PHI: 0-4, 4 K
Ryan Howard, PHI: 0-4, 3 K
Pat Burrell, PHI: 1-3, R, RBI, BB

Pitches: Francis 94, Hawkins 16, Fuentes 18, Corpas 13, Hamels 115, Gordon 9, Romero 5, Myers 21.
Umpires: HP: Dale Scott. 1B: Jim Reynolds. 2B: Chuck Meriwether. 3B: Jeff Kellogg. LF: Derryl Cousins. RF: Ed Hickox.
Att: 45,655

Summary:

Just three days before the anniversary of the Colorado Rockies' only franchise playoff victory (Oct. 6, 1995), the red hot Rockies pulled out another one, against the red hot Philadelphia Philles. Using a 3 run 3rd inning highlighted by a leadoff Todd Helton triple, the Rockies squeezed out a 1-0 lead in the series. While neither pitcher was brilliant (Francis - 6 IP, 2 ER/Hamels - 6.2 IP, 3 ER), both got the job done by keeping the two high powered offenses to a surprisingly low run total.

After Helton tripled in the 3rd, Atkins doubled, Torrealba singled, and Tulowitzke drew a bases loaded walk to bring in the 3rd run of the inning. After this, though, the Rockies bats remained silent until Holliday blasted a solo shot off of Tom Gordon in the top of the 8th inning. And did I say that Francis did not pitch brilliantly? That may be an exaggeration. Essentially, Francis only made one slipup, a pair of back-to-back home runs let off to Aaron Rowand and Pat Burrel in the lower half of the 5th. Beyond that, the Rockies ace yielded just 2 other hits in 6 full innings of work, successfully quieting the raucous crowd of 45,000+.

Personally, this game brought exactly what I was looking for. Holliday and Atkins continued unbelievable hot streaks while both aces effectively shut down the opposing offenses, and we even got to see the rarity that are back-to-back home runs. I'm more excited than DJ, when the Phillies left Adam Eaton off the NLDS roster, about this electrifying series. Major League Baseball's two hottest teams, if not the most skilled, are coming to meet in one high octane, high scoring October Divisional Series.

Look out for a rookie matchup tomorrow between Franklin Morales (Colorado) and Kyle Kendrick (Philadelphia). The Venezuelan southpaw Morales, with extremely limited pro experience, blanked the Phillies for 5 innings earlier this year in an 8-2 victory, and has a 1.23 ERA in his last 4 starts. On the other hand, unheralded righty Kendrick is on the mound for the Phillies. A young pitcher who deserves much more credit than he has gotten, led all rookies in wins, was second in ERA, and has let off 3 or fewer runs in 15 of his 20 2007 starts. It should be interesting to see how these two young pitchers handle the playoff atmosphere.

Cardsox' prediction: Rockies still in 5...why should I change my prediction?

 
Next Game: Colorado @ Philadelphia
                  Citizens Bank Park
                  Thursday, October 04, 2007
                  3:00 ET    TBS