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Iannetta comes off bench to lead Rockies past Giants

Apr 30, 2008 - 6:52 AM By Al Barba PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Chris Iannetta hit a solo home run and scored twice to lead the Colorado Rockies to a 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday.

Iannetta, who was forced to make his major league debut at third base after injuries to Troy Tulowitzki and Jeff Baker, hit his second homer of the season off the bench in the top of the second inning before scoring the go-ahead run on a balk by Giants starter Tim Lincecum in the seventh.

Colorado's starting shortstop, Tulowitzki was expected to have the day off on Tuesday. But after Jeff Baker - who was penciled in at second base - popped a blood vessel in his right middle finger during batting practice, manager Clint Hurdle was forced to make some last-minute lineup changes.

Hurdle inserted Tulowitzki at shortstop and moved Clint Barmes from shortstop to second.

But Tulowitzki left the game in the bottom of the first inning with a left quadriceps injury, causing Hurdle to again make adjustments. Barmes moved to shortstop, third baseman Garrett Atkins took over at second and Iannetta - normally a catcher - came off the bench and played his first major league game at third.

"The whole game was a blur," Iannetta said. "There wasn't any game I thought I would have to play there. Not at this level.

"I came up as a third baseman in Little League. But that wasn't the last time I played there. I played 16-to-20 games at the collegiate level (at the University of North Carolina)."

Atkins also was playing second base for the first time in the majors.

"We had to make some adjustments," Hurdle said. "It actually started before the game. It was just a night for it.

"I think it was another good game for our team. They had to just look at themselves and say 'OK.'"

Lincecum (4-1) surrendered three runs and eight hits in seven innings, suffering his first loss of the season.

Aaron Cook (4-1) allowed just two unearned runs and 10 hits in seven innings, walking two while striking out three. Taylor Buchholz tossed a perfect eighth and Brian Fuentes worked around a walk in the ninth to notch his second save for the Rockies, who snapped a four-game losing streak.

Cook had no problem with having two players out of position behind him.

"I felt comfortable with (Iannetta) over there (at third base), and Atkins is a natural infielder, so it's just a matter of him moving over to second," Cook said. "Guys came up huge. Chris went to third, Garrett moved to second and just went out there and played the game like they did when we were kids. I think that is what everybody did - they just relaxed."

Colorado snapped a 2-2 tie in the seventh, when Iannetta, after doubling and advancing to third on a sacrifice, scored from third base when Lincecum was charged with a balk after it appeared plate umpire Gary Darling had called timeout.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy was ejected by Darling after a prolonged argument.

"(Darling) said (Lincecum) started and stopped before the timeout, but what I think Timmy saw was hands going up for timeout and he stopped," Bochy said. "I still don't understand it. It's obviously huge."

San Francisco had an opportunity to again knot the contest in the bottom of the seventh but ran itself out of the inning.

After leading off the frame with a pinch double, Randy Winn was thrown out at third base trying to advance on Fred Lewis' grounder to shortstop.

Lewis stole second and moved to third on a single by Eugenio Velez, putting runners on the corners with one out. However, Velez was picked off first base by Cook before Ray Durham struck out to end the inning.

"It's a tough one to lose," Bochy said. "We had our chances, we just made too many baserunning mistakes tonight."

The Rockies took a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Willy Taveras opened the game with a base hit to center, advanced to third on a hit-and-run single by Todd Helton and scored when Matt Holliday grounded into a double play.

The Giants briefly moved ahead in the bottom of the inning, scoring a pair of unearned runs against Cook.