By Cliff Corcoran, Special to SI.com

PHILADELPHIA -- Everyone knows the Rockies can hit, but by striking out the first four men he faced in the opening game of the Rockies' National League Division Series against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday, Jeff Francis officially served notice that his team can pitch a bit as well.

World Series Coverage   Monday John Donovan: Rox, Sox built to last Albert Chen: Ellsbury an unlikely hero Joe Sheehan: Scenes, notes from clincher Red Sox celebrate World Series victory Sunday Sox clip Rockies 4-3 to win World Series John Donovan's Report Card for Game 4 Jon Heyman's 15 Greatest Mr. Octobers Lowell takes home Series MVP honors Dynasty in the making for Red Sox? Clock strikes midnight for Rockies' ride Time.com: Red Sox are the new Yankees Saturday Red Sox down Rockies 10-5, take 3-0 lead John Donovan's Report Card for Game 3 Tom Verducci: The Sox are superior John Donovan: The Coors Field factor Jon Heyman: Four keys to Game 3 Friday Melissa Segura: Corpas gets his wish John Donovan: Rockies' lumber slumber Jon Heyman: How the Sox got Beckett Joe Sheehan: Electric night at Fenway Thursday Schilling, bullpen shut down Rockies 2-1 John Donovan's Report Card for Game 2 Tom Verducci's five cuts for Thursday Albert Chen on the Red Sox's bullpen John Donovan: Rockies turn to a rookie Joe Sheehan: Postseason drama lacking Tale of the Tape: Rockies vs. Red Sox World Series Fungoes Joe Lemire on Rockies-Red Sox Schedule/Box Scores Game 1: Red Sox 13, Rockies 1 Game 2: Red Sox 2, Rockies 1 Game 3: Red Sox 10, Rockies 5 Game 4: Red Sox 4, Rockies 3

In fact, the Rockies posted the best ERA in the NL after the All-Star break (3.86), a phenomenal accomplishment for a team that plays in an extreme hitting environment and lacks any star hurlers. Then again, Francis, who outdueled his more acclaimed Philly counterpart, Cole Hamels, in the 4-2 Game 1 victory, may well have become a star with his performance.

How does a team with a postseason rotation that backs up Francis with the utterly unspectacular Josh Fogg and two unheralded rookies with a combined 23 major league starts and a bullpen lined with retreads and castoff such as LaTroy Hawkins, Matt Herges, Jeremy Affeldt, and Mark Redman (who took the roster spot expected to go to Monday's near-loser Jorge Julio) lead the league in ERA over a half season? Ask Hawkins.

"Defense is key," says the 34-year-old veteran on his fifth team in as many years. "After last year [with the Orioles] I was thinking about shutting it down. I definitely didn't have any fun. I got the call from [manager] Clint [Hurdle]. He asked me about it, and I looked at their defense and saw how good they were, and I decided that this is the place I wanted to be." Adds Hawkins: "I saw the other day that we have the best fielding percentage in major league baseball history."

Indeed, the Rockies finished the season with a major league record .98925 fielding percentage, having made just 68 errors on the season. Of course, fielding stats are endlessly misleading, but there's no way around the tremendous impact of the Rockies' defenders on the fortunes of their pitchers. Only two teams struck out fewer hitters than the Rockies in 2007. The Rockies were also in the bottom half of the majors in walks and home runs allowed. What all that adds up to is a tremendous amount of balls put in play for the Colorado defense. The Rockies were the eighth-most effective team in the majors in turning those balls in play into outs (the percentage of balls in play turned in to outs is called "defensive efficiency"). Eighth may not sound all that impressive, but given the tremendous amount of territory their outfielders have to cover and the run-inflating environment of Coors field, it's a significant accomplishment. Last year, the Rockies were 22nd in the majors in defensive efficiency. In fact, prior to this season, the Rockies had never been better than 16th in defensive efficiency and finished in the bottom three in the majors in nine out of their first 13 seasons.

Key to the improvement has been the keystone combo of Kazuo Matsui and especially Rookie of the Year candidate Troy Tulowitzki. Even if Tulowitzki loses the rookie race to Milwaukee's Ryan Braun or Houston's Hunter Pence, he's unlikely to go home empty handed as he's the leading candidate at shortstop for the Gold Glove, and award that's been won three times at first base by veteran infield anchor Todd Helton.

"Our defense has been great all year," said lefty Brian Fuentes, who struck out Utley for a fourth time in Game 1 to complete his scoreless eighth inning. "We don't make a whole lot of errors, knock on wood, and that's comforting as a pitcher to know that you just need to get them to put the ball in play, get the ball down, and you're going to have a real good chance of getting some outs."

That bit about getting the ball down has also been a big part of the Rockies' defensive game plan. Hawkins is getting ground balls at twice his highest rate in any previous season, and he got out of the seventh inning of Game 1 via a 4-6-3 ground ball double play. Injured righty Aaron Cook is among the most extreme ground ball starters in the game. Closer Manny Corpas, who claimed the job from Fuentes midseason and pitched a perfect ninth to earn the save on Wednesday, and Game 2 starter, rookie Franklin Morales, are two other Rockies hurlers who get more than twice as many ground balls as fly balls. Only three of the 18 outs Francis recorded in Game 1 reached the outfield, all coming late in the game when he was beginning to fatigue. In fact, those were the only three putouts made by the Colorado outfield in the entire game.

The Rockies are proof that what often what is thought of as good pitching is actually good defense. Outside of strikeouts, walks, home runs, and errors, it's often impossible to tell where to separate the two. The Rockies this season have done an excellent job of suppressing the last three outcomes on that list, and where they might lack in strikeouts, they compensate with great defense. Mix in a powerful offense, and it all adds up to a team with a 1-0 lead in the NLDS.