Jeff Francis pitched five scoreless innings, registered ten of eleven outs on the ground and showed enough movement in his curveball to alleviate concerns abut his readiness for the season, but the Rockies hitters showed that either Jim Tracy's lessons on situational hitting haven't sunk in six weeks into Spring or that part of the game really is as random and unpredictable as 125 years of professional baseball history have suggested.

Box Score

The Rockies outhit the Cubs ten to six, but went zero for ten with runners in scoring position. Ryan Spilborghs and Seth Smith had five of the Rockies hits, Alfonso Soriano led the Cubs with three hits, including a two run home run off of Matt Daley which provided all the scoring on the afternoon.

Francis allowed three hits, all singles, and three walks and looked as close to the Francis of 2007 as he has all Spring. Daley struggled, allowing two extra base hits, with a double to Derrek Lee preceding the Soriano blast. Joe Beimel and Justin Speier both pitched scoreless innings in relief.

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