• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Hirsh outduels Maddux as Rockies win

Apr 22, 2007 - 11:21 PM DENVER (Ticker) -- Greg Maddux may have 329 more wins than Jason Hirsh, but on Sunday the youngster got the better of the future Hall of Famer.

Hirsh allowed four hits in seven innings to help the Colorado Rockies snap a three-game skid with a 4-2 victory over the San Diego Padres.

The 25-year-old righthander, the centerpiece of an offseason trade that sent veteran pitcher Jason Jennings to Houston, struck out seven and allowed two runs for his second win of the season and fifth career.

"I tried to mix it up a little bit out there today, I didn't want to be the same pitcher I was the last time I faced them," Hirsh said. "I think if I keep giving them a fresh look they're always going to be off-balance and I really tried to do that today."

Hirsh also beat the Padres on April 6, allowing one run in 6 1/3 innings. "He's got a good changeup and we're having a tough time recognizing the changeup, thinking it's a heater coming out of his hands," Padres outfielder Brian Giles said.

Giles singled and scored for San Diego, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.

Colorado's Matt Holliday drove in a run and scored another, finishing a home run short of the cycle. The slugger improved to 9-for-18 in his career against Maddux (1-2), who yielded four runs and seven hits in seven innings.

"I've had good luck off of him, he throws sinker and changeup, and he's all about location," Holliday said. "I think he missed his location to me once or twice. I try to be aggressive with him, some guys you just see the ball better than others and I just see him pretty well."

The four-time Cy Young Award winner pitched well, striking out four and surrendering three runs on a groundout and a pair of sacrifice flies.

Garrett Atkins doubled and scored a run and veteran Todd Helton continued his hot start with his team-leading 11th RBI, boosting his average to .339 for the young season.

"This was good for our confidence. It was a good win and now maybe we can take a little momentum from it," Holliday said.

Khalil Greene hit a solo homer off Hirsh and Adrian Gonzalez drove in his 17th run of the season with a double in the fourth inning for San Diego.

Brian Fuentes allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth inning for his fourth save in as many opportunities.