With Giants right-hander Matt Cain on the mound, it was Friday night lights out for the Rockies.
A raucous crowd of 40,524 showed up at Coors Field to root for the home team — manager Jim Tracy called it a “playoff-type atmosphere” — but Cain never flinched. Deftly mixing fastballs, sliders and changeups, he limited the Rockies to one run on three hits over seven innings in San Francisco’s 3-1 victory.
“He’s the most untalked about great pitcher in baseball,” said Rockies starter Jason Hammel, who pitched six innings of solid baseball, but was no match for Cain.
Cain improved to 12-2, his 12 victories matching the Rockies’ Jason Marquis for the most in the National League. Although it’s ridiculously early to put too much stock in the standings, the Giants and Rockies now share the lead for the National League wild-card spot.
“We needed to win this game, and we need to take this series from these guys,” Cain said. “I think it would be big for us to get some momentum. The road trip so far hasn’t gone the way we’ve wanted it to. This right here would help us have some momentum.”
“It’s just one game, and we have two more to play with them this weekend,” said Troy Tulowitzki, who couldn’t don the Superman cape in the ninth.
But the Rockies weren’t in mourning over the defeat.
With two out, Todd Helton perched on second and Brad Hawpe on first, the crowd was roaring. Tulowitzki, one of the Rockies’ hottest hitters of late, stepped in against Giants closer Brian Wilson. With good vibrations coming from the “Tu-Lo” chant, a little LoDo magic seemed imminent. Instead, Wilson jammed Tulowitzki, getting him to hit a groundball for a double play for Wilson’s 25th save.
“The crowd was into it and it was really loud, it was fun,” Tulowitzki said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go my way.”
With Cain on the mound, little went the Rockies’ way. A day after White Sox ace Mark Buehrle tossed a perfect game, Cain no-hit the Rockies for 4 2/3 innings before Ian Stewart punched a single to right. Brad Hawpe, who reached on a walk, advanced to third on Stewart’s hit, but was stranded when Chris Iannetta popped out meekly to end the inning. No surprise there. Opposing batters are hitting .088 (4-for-45) against Cain with two outs and runners in scoring position.
“He kept us off balance, but we got him up to a lot of pitches, which is what we want to do to opposing pitchers,” Stewart said. “But he’s a horse and he’s one of those guys who can throw 120 pitches like he did tonight. It seemed like he was stronger as the game went on.”
For the record, Cain threw 116 pitches and walked four, but he was always in control. Little wonder his ERA is a cool 2.27.
The Rockies finally landed a solid punch in the sixth. Ryan Spilborghs hit a two-out double and trotted home on Garrett Atkins’ missile over the head of left fielder Fred Lewis. Tracy started Spilborghs and Atkins because they have a history of some success against Cain.
The closest the Rockies came to a hit in the first four innings was Dexter Fowler’s blistering shot down the third-base line leading off the fourth. But Pablo Sandoval flagged down the ball and threw out the fleet Fowler by a step.
The Giants broke through against Hammel in the fourth. Lewis doubled down the right-field line and scored on Bengie Molina’s double-play groundout. Nate Schierholtz’s fourth homer of the year, this one lofted into the right-field seats, put the Giants in front 2-0.
The Giants added a run in the sixth, cashing in on Lewis’ leadoff triple and a perfectly executed hit-and-run single by Molina.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
Rockies Recap
Spilborghs doubly good again
Despite limited playing time of late, Ryan Spilborghs continues producing. He stroked a double to right-center in the sixth and scored the Rockies’ first run. He has 17 doubles, a career high. Spilborghs had 14 doubles in 2007 and 2008.
Helton revisited.
Here’s another historical tidbit for the 500-double milestone reached by Todd Helton on Wednesday: According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only two other players reached 500 doubles in fewer games than Helton (1,749 games). Joe Medwick did it in 1,714 games, and Nap Lajoie did it in 1,730.
Liftoff.
The Giants heat up when they come to Coors Field. They arrived in Denver as the only team without a home run since the all-star break. That changed in the fourth on Nate Schierholtz’s solo shot to right.
Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
Looking Ahead
TODAY: Giants at Rockies, 6:10 p.m., FSN/MLB Network
Rockies lefty Jorge De La Rosa (7-7, 4.95 ERA) has evolved from a head- scratcher into a dominating pitcher. He has a 3.27 ERA during his current five- game winning streak. Since June 21, opponents have hit just .214 against him. His one glitch was a two-run, one-inning bullpen performance before the all-star break. Giants left-hander Jonathan Sanchez (3-8, 4.68) made headlines with his July 10 no-hitter against the Padres, but his season has been a roller-coaster ride. Like De La Rosa, he has great stuff and a “slurve,” but he struggles with his control and tends to lose focus. He allowed three runs in six innings at Atlanta on Monday in his most recent start.
Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
Upcoming Pitching Matchups
Sunday: Giants’ Ryan Sadowski (2-2, 4.15 ERA) vs. Rockies’ Aaron Cook (9-3, 3.94), 1:10 p.m., FSN
Monday: Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez (7-9, 3.85) vs. Mets’ Oliver Perez (2-3, 7.68), 5:10 p.m., FSN
Tuesday: Rockies’ Jason Marquis (12-6, 3.49) vs. Mets’ Mike Pelfrey (7-6, 4.99), 5:10 p.m., FSN
Wednesday: Rockies’ Jason Hammel (5-5, 4.28) vs. Mets’ Johan Santana (11-8, 3.12), 5:10 p.m., FSN
