Tim Lincecum tries to string back-to-back wins together for the first time this season on Saturday when the San Francisco Giants continue their four-game series with the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.
After a pair of shaky outings, Lincecum was brilliant against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, as he scattered two hits over seven scoreless innings to win for the first time in four starts and improved to 3-2 on the year to go along with a 4.07 ERA.
Lincecum, who had allowed five runs in each of his two previous outings, also struck out seven and walked three.
"I'm not jumping up in the air right now," Lincecum said. "... It's a work in progress. I'm still working to get better."
Lincecum gave up six runs in six innings in a no-decision against the Rockies earlier in the year, but is 11-7 lifetime against them with a 3.76 ERA in 24 starts.
Colorado picked up a rare win in this series on Friday, as Jordan Pacheco's first homer of the year resulted in his first career grand slam, and it helped the Rockies snap a 10-game skid against the Giants in a 10-9 rout.
The Giants rallied from a six-run deficit Thursday for an 8-6 win and nearly came back again Friday night.
Buster Posey's solo homer in the eighth inning brought the Giants within a run, but Rafael Betancourt struck out the side in the ninth to pick up his 10th save of the year.
"It's important for us to put away games, no matter who we're playing against. It's just nice to be able to fight back and put away a game at the end," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said.
Pacheco drove in five runs and Carlos Gonzalez also homered for the Rockies.
Jorge De La Rosa (5-3) allowed nine hits and five runs over five innings for Colorado, while Madison Bumgarner (4-2) yielded eight hits and nine runs -- seven earned -- in 4 2/3 frames for the Giants. Bumgarner had a six-game winning streak against the Rockies broken.
Pablo Sandoval went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI in the loss, while Marco Scutaro also had three hits and drove in a run.
"This offense is doing a good job of coming back, but we have to get this pitching back on track," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.
Getting the call for the Rockies on Saturday will be righty Ty Chatwood, who was recalled from Triple-A earlier this week to take the spot of the injured Jeff Francis.
Chatwood was 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts for the Rockies before being demoted.
"Anytime you go down (to the minors), you want to prove yourself and keep proving yourself," Chatwood said.
Despite Friday's win, the Rockies have dropped 12 of their last 15 home meetings with San Francisco.
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