St. Louis at Colorado

After a 17-win 2007 campaign, Jeff Francis is winless in 2008. We think he notches his first win here. He is 4-1 with a 2.28 ERA over the Cardinals. The Rockies need Francis to come through to avoid the sweep. Francis is 44-30 the past three seasons, 20-8 when the total is between 9 and 10 and 13-4 against NL Central foes. The Rockies have had a rough go of it, but under Hurdle, this team is 14-7 after having lost 12+ of their last 15 games. We look for Colorado to break out of their slump of sorts and avoid the sweep tonight behind the arm of Jeff Francis.