They served up the Aaron Cook special Sunday afternoon at Coors Field.
Giants bats dinged and dented the right-hander, but they never broke him. And Rockies’ bats produced just enough offense for a 4-2 victory, solidifying the Rockies’ hold on the National League wild-card spot.
By taking two of three in the weekend series, the Rockies increased their wild-card lead over the Giants to two games.
Cook (10-3) pitched seven innings, allowing two runs on nine hits. As usual, he was a model of efficiency, throwing a mere 77 pitches, 51 of them strikes.
The revitalized and restructured bullpen backed Cook up with two perfect innings. Lefty Franklin Morales set the Giants down in order in the eighth, whiffing Fred Lewis and Travis Ishikawa. Closer Huston Street slammed the door in the ninth, striking out Juan Uribe for the final out to claim his 25th save in 26 opportunities.
Dating back to the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game, Rockies relievers have tossed 11-2/3 consecutive hitless innings.
Cook’s trusty sinker produced 15 groundball outs and frequently bailed him out of trouble. The prime example was the fourth inning. The Giants opened with back-to-back singles by Pablo Sandoval and Travis Ishikawa, but Cook got Edgar Renteria to ground into a double play. Next, John Bowker hit a chopper to Clint Barmes at second. Two hits, no runs, no harm.
The Rockies’ offense, if not robust, was at least resourceful. They scored two runs on sacrifice flies. In the third, Troy Tulowitzki drove a flyball to center, scoring Seth Smith. Yorvit Torrealba’s sacrifice fly to center in the sixth scored Carlos Gonzalez, giving the Rockies a 4-2 cushion.
Gonzalez reached on one of his best at-bats of the season. It took 12 pitches, including eight foul balls, before he laced a tripled into the right-field corner.
The Rockies quickly put a run on the board in the first. Smith led off with a single, stole second and scored on a Brad Hawpe’s single to shallow left field.
The Rockies now hit the road for a 10-game, 11-day road trip beginning Monday night in New York against the Mets.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
