ATLANTA - The decision at the end of spring training for the Rockies' Opening Day starting assignment came down to Aaron Cook or Jeff Francis.

Cook got the nod. Experience was on his side.

Next year, though, it could be a different story.

That's no knock on Cook, who has started to regain his dominating sinker in the past month or so. It's just that Francis, in his third full big-league season, keeps proving he can handle whatever challenge comes his way.

Friday night, it was a matchup with future Hall of Famer John Smoltz and an Atlanta lineup that has been piling up run totals in a near-record manner.

When the game came to an end, it was Francis and the Rockies who were left standing, 9-2 winners against the Braves at Turner Field.

The Rockies equaled the best start in franchise history - their 56-52 record is the same as in 1995, when they claimed the National League wild card and the only postseason birth in franchise history - by winning for the eighth time in their past 10 games. It was their third win in the first four games of a road trip that concludes with games against the Braves tonight and Sunday.

And Francis equaled a franchise record by winning his seventh consecutive decision, something Bill Swift did in 1995 and Jason Jennings in 1997, enjoying an early lead that the Rockies continued to build on throughout the game.

What's more, Francis has won 11 of his past 12 decisions, and the Rockies have won 15 of his past 18 starts. Not even Turner Field, where the Rockies had lost 10 of their past 12 games, was too much for the Rockies with Francis on the mound. Cook, meanwhile, has won his past three starts and four of his past five decisions.

Not even a home run by Mark Teixeira - it made him the first Atlanta player to homer in his first three games with the team since Gary Sheffield in 2002 - could take away from the Rockies' joy Friday. It didn't come, after all, until the ninth.

"Jeff and Cook are our aces," left fielder Matt Holliday said. "We count on both of them, every fifth game, to give us a chance to win, and they usually do."

It doesn't hurt when the offense provides support like the Rockies did against Smoltz. There were two runs in the first thanks to a shot off the bat of Brad Hawpe that bounced off the glove of first baseman Teixeira for a two-out error, and two more in the second on Holliday's two-out double to left-center field.

Garrett Atkins continued his RBI binge by following up a two-out intentional walk to Todd Helton in the seventh with a three-run home run, giving the Rockies a 7-1 lead and giving Atkins nine RBI the first four games of this trip.

"I understand walking Todd," Atkins said. "Any time they do that, my job is to make it hurt."

Or, as Hurdle put it, "Atkins handles pressure well. He has a slow heartbeat."

Troy Tulowitzki closed the Rockies' scoring with a two- run single off Lance Cor-mier in the ninth.

"Scoring those four runs in the first two innings are really big for me," Francis said. "It lets me be a little more aggressive. It gives me a little (margin for error)."

Not that Francis needed much of a margin. He avoided issuing a walk for the third time in his past four starts and struck out eight, one short of his career best June 20 against the Yankees at Coors Field.

Having allowed at least four runs in his four previous starts against Atlanta, Francis gave up one run in his six innings this time. Chipper Jones led off the fourth with a double, took third on a single by Teixeira and scored when Andruw Jones grounded into a double play.

And he deflated a potential Braves rally in the sixth. Yunel Escobar and Kelly Johnson led off with singles.

Nursing a 4-1 lead, Francis knew he had a challenge with the likes of Chipper Jones,

Tei-xeira and Andruw Jones the next three batters. But Francis was more than up to the challenge. He struck out Chipper Jones swinging. He struck out Teixeira looking. Andruw Jones did blast a groundball down the third-base line, but Atkins was able to come up with the ball and get the inning-ending force of Johnson at second.

"I felt like I had a good fastball and I was going to be able to be aggressive with it," Francis said of the sixth-inning showdown.

ringolsbyt@RockyMountainNews.com

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