PHOENIX – Jeff Francis and the Colorado Rockies rolled right past the Arizona Diamondbacks — and their rowdy fans.
Francis outpitched Brandon Webb and the Rockies won the NL championship series opener 5-1 Thursday night in a game interrupted when fans angered by an umpire's disputed interference call threw objects onto the field.
Umpires pulled the teams off the field during the eight-minute delay in the bottom of the seventh inning. Crew chief Tim McClelland told Rockies manager Clint Hurdle to have Francis throw a pitch and "fight through it."
Once play resumed, the wild-card Rockies escaped a jam in their NLCS debut and won for the 18th time in 19 games.
Game 2 is Friday night in Phoenix, with Arizona lefty Doug Davis facing hard-throwing Colorado rookie Ubaldo Jimenez.
On a hot night in the desert — it 93 degrees at gametime — tempers flared after a relatively calm six innings.
Francis dominated while Rockies hitters, coming off a first-round sweep over Philadelphia, patiently waited out Webb. Then again, they were familiar with the 2006 NL Cy Young — this was the seventh time he started against Colorado this year.
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