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Rockies claim early playoffs lead

Los Angeles Angels shortstop Orlando Cabrera leaps over the Boston Red Sox's Mike Lowell while turning a double play in the third inning of Game 1 of their American League Division Series playoff game on Wednesday in Boston, Massachusetts. The Red Sox's J.D. Drew was out at first to end the inning. PHOTO: AP

Jeff Francis held the league's highest-scoring team in check to give Colorado a 4-2 win over Philadephia in the first game of their National League playoff series on Wednesday.

The Rockies took advantage of one shaky inning by Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels to post only their second postseason victory, the other coming in 1995.

Matt Holliday, his chin still cut from the face-first slide that won Monday's wild-card tiebreaker over San Diego, hit a solo home run. Colorado carried over its momentum from that victory, and won for the 15th time in 16 games.

Francis, a 17-game winner who came in with a 15.12 ERA against Philadelphia this season, pitched six effective innings and stayed out of trouble. He helped to hold the Phillies' top trio of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins to 0-for-11 with eight strikeouts.

Francis gave up four hits and struck out eight, his only blemishes coming in the fifth when Aaron Rowand and Pat Burrell hit consecutive homers. Three relievers pitched three hitless innings, with Manny Corpas closing for a save.

Hamels, the 23-year-old All-Star lefty, was outstanding except for the second inning. Making his first career start against the Rockies, he allowed three runs and three hits in 6 2-3 innings. Hamels walked four and fanned seven.

Todd Helton lined a triple to start the second and Garrett Atkins doubled, giving Colorado an early lead. Yorvit Torrealba's one-out single drove in Atkins.

With two outs and bases loaded, Hamels got ahead of Troy Tulowitzki 0-2 before walking him to force in another run.

But he struck out Holliday swinging on a changeup to leave the bases full, then retired the next 12 batters.

Holliday, the MVP candidate, gave the Rockies an insurance run when he ripped Tom Gordon's pitch into the left-center field seats for a 4-2 lead in the eighth.

Diamondbacks 3, Cubs 1

In Phoenix, Brandon Webb shut down Chicago with his superb sinker to lead Arizona to a 3-1 victory over the Cubs in the opening game of their NL playoff series.

Stephen Drew homered in the fourth off Chicago ace Carlos Zambrano, who was pulled after six innings and only 85 pitches.

Right after he left, Mark Reynolds homered on the fourth pitch from reliever Carlos Marmol to break a 1-1 tie in the seventh. Pinch-hitter Conor Jackson added a sacrifice fly, and the Diamondbacks got two scoreless innings from their strong bullpen.

Webb, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, allowed four hits and struck out nine over seven outstanding innings in his postseason debut. He walked three and hit a batter.

Josh Beckett pitched his second consecutive shutout in Major League Baseball's postseason and, backed by a home run from David Ortiz, led the Boston Red Sox over the Los Angeles Angels 4-0 on Wednesday night in their American League playoffs opener.

Beckett retired 19 consecutive batters after a leadoff single, allowed just four hits and ran his postseason scoreless streak to 18 innings. The last time he pitched on such a stage, he blanked the New York Yankees to clinch the 2003 World Series for Florida.

The last pitcher with consecutive postseason shutouts was current teammate Curt Schilling, who threw one for the Phillies in 1993 and Arizona in 2001. Christy Mathewson is the only pitcher with four postseason shutouts; Beckett tied Whitey Ford and Mordecai Brown with three.

The victory was Boston's seventh straight in the postseason over the California-Anaheim-Los Angeles Angels, having come back from a 3-1 deficit to win in the 1986 AL playoffs and then sweeping them in the 2005 best-of-five first round.

Game 2 will be today, with Daisuke Matsuzaka facing the Angels' Kelvim Escobar.
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