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Sandoval, Sanchez lift Giants over Rockies

Apr 20, 2011 - 6:01 AM Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Pablo Sandoval had a three-run home run while Aubrey Huff slapped a two-run shot as the San Francisco Giants outlasted the Colorado Rockies, 6-3, in the middle contest of a three-game set.

Jonathan Sanchez outshined the return of Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez with a 6 1/3-inning start. Sanchez (2-1) gave up just three runs -- two earned -- on two hits and struck out four for San Francisco, which won the first game of the series behind Tim Lincecum's outstanding performance.

Jimenez was activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game to get his second start of the season for the Rockies. The 27-year old was placed on the DL on April 6 with a cuticle cut on his pitching thumb, which he suffered during his Opening Day start against Arizona.

Jimenez (0-1) rebounded from a rough start to go five innings, allowing four runs on six hits and striking out six but still was tagged with the loss.

"It's not like I was going to come back and 100 mph right away," Jimenez said. "I knew it was going to take some time. It's going to get there, just one step at a time."

Dexter Fowler had a pair of doubles and knocked in two runs for the Rockies, who have lost three of their last four contests.

Jimenez had a rough start with a 37-pitch first inning, yielding four runs. He pegged Aaron Rowand on his second pitch of the game and Freddy Sanchez followed up with a single. Rowand scored on a Buster Posey single and then Sandoval lifted a three-run homer over the right field wall to take a nice four-run lead during their first at-bat.

"When you get up early it eases the tension," Huff said. "It forces them to be more aggressive and with the way our pitchers have been throwing that's really tough."

The All-Star pitcher settled down and kept the Giants scoreless the next four innings. Meanwhile, during the bottom of the fifth, the Rockies got a run on Seth Smith's pinch-hit sacrifice fly to left, which scored Ty Wigginton.

San Francisco, though, put up a two-spot in the seventh inning on Huff's homer that also brought home Darren Ford, who led off the inning with a walk.

But the home team got those two runs back during the bottom of the inning when it filled the bases with two outs. Fowler came up big with a double down the right-field line to score Jose Lopez and Wigginton.

The Giants' bullpen did its job, though, in the final two innings as Javier Lopez pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Brian Wilson collected his fifth save with a scoreless ninth.

Game Notes

Rowand left the game in the fourth inning due to an arm contusion... To open a roster spot for Jimenez, the club optioned infielder Ian Stewart to its Triple-A affiliate in Colorado Springs...Jimenez fell to 5-6 overall in 15 career starts against the Giants...The Giants are 4-1 on a six-game road trip thus far. They have won nine of their last 13 games...By losing the first two games of the series, it's Colorado's first losing series of the season.