DENVER -- Jeff Francis had a simple analysis. It all came down to his breaking ball.
"I was able to throw them for strikes more consistently," he said. "Then, it was something they had in their minds."
Francis pitched six strong innings, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-1 Thursday in the first game of a doubleheader.
"He was more consistent and throwing more strikes," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "No walks with eight punch outs and he kept the ball out of the middle of the plate."
Francis (3-2), Colorado's first-round pick in the 2002 amateur draft, gave up one run and seven hits. He matched a career high by striking out eight.
Francis was one of five rookies in the Rockies' starting lineup. They sent the Diamondbacks to their 105th loss, and eighth defeat in nine road games.
Andy Tracy and Jeromy Burnitz hit RBI singles in the first inning, and Francis made the early lead stand up.
"The lead is always good, then you can just go after guys and put the pressure on them instead of when there is a runner on base and constantly worrying about them and worrying about what that runner is doing," Francis said. "You can go out and be aggressive with that three-run lead."
Robbie Hammock homered for Arizona.
Brandon Webb (6-16) remained winless in four starts. He allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings.
"I was off a little bit mechanically," Webb said. "It took four or five innings to gather myself."
Webb didn't get any help from an offense that has scored three or fewer runs in eight of its last nine road games, all losses.
"We can't score runs," Arizona manager Al Pedrique said. "For some reason we can't figure it out and we aren't clicking."
The Rockies took a 3-0 lead in the first on the singles by Tracy and Burnitz and an RBI grounder from Charles Johnson. Burnitz finished with three hits.
Colorado broke it open in the eighth. Jorge Piedra hit a two-run double off Shane Nance, and Luis Gonzalez and Todd Helton had RBI singles off Scott Service.
Francis blanked Arizona on six singles over the first five innings, allowing only one runner past second base.
Hammock hit his third homer in the sixth, sending a drive into the Colorado bullpen in right-center field.
Notes
It was the second non-split doubleheader played at Coors Field. ... Hammock landed headfirst into the dirt in left field going after Burnitz's ground-rule double in the third. ... Johnson was in the starting lineup for the first time in nine games.
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