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Molina powers Giants with 2 homers in 8-3 win

May 7, 2009 - 11:44 PM By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer

DENVER(AP) -- If not for a sudden gust of wind, Bengie Molina could've had a three-homer afternoon.

Not that he's quibbling with two.

Behind Molina's big day at the plate and Matt Cain's six innings of one-hit ball, the San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 8-3 on Thursday.

By showing a little patience, Molina finally solved Jason Marquis.

The Giants catcher was hitless in 12 career plate appearances against Marquis before lining a solo homer to left-center in the second and crushing a two-run shot to right the following inning.

It was Molina's sixth multihomer game and first since July 22 against Washington.

"The only thing I did different was I let the ball travel to me," Molina said. "I was just trying to stay back as long as I could."

Molina nearly had another homer in the fifth, but the wind held the ball up and allowed Dexter Fowler to track it down in deep center.

"I actually hit the third one better than I hit the other two," he said.

Molina finished with three hits and four RBIs, driving in another run on a bases-loaded, check-swing groundout. On that particular play in the seventh, Molina didn't even run toward first, figuring he would be called back because he said the ball bounced up and hit him in the hand.

When plate umpire Gerry Davis said nothing, Molina gladly accepted the RBI as Eugenio Velez raced home on the short chopper to the third-base side.

"It kind of got me by surprise that nobody said anything on that play," Molina said. "I wasn't arguing, I was just saying 'It hit my hand' and I walked away."

Cain (3-1) fought his control early, walking four in the first two innings, then settled down. He retired nine of his last 10 before being lifted for a pinch runner in the seventh.

"Something would be a little bit off," Cain said of his early struggles. "Just keep going, keep going and try to find (a rhythm) ... Once I found it, I tried to hold onto it."

Giants manager Bruce Bochy called him "wildly effective."

Not exactly a label he wants to stick.

"You don't want to go out there and walk that many people," said Cain, who had season highs in strikeouts (seven) and walks (five). "I was just a little bit ahead of myself."

After neutralizing the Giants in a complete-game win on Saturday, Marquis (4-2) didn't have the same stuff. He surrendered seven runs, five earned, and eight hits in six innings. He had been 4-0 in day games this season.

"Just one of those days where I didn't execute when I needed to," Marquis said.

Brad Hawpe homered off Jeremy Affeldt in the seventh to break up the shutout. Ian Stewart added a two-run homer in the ninth.

"We didn't do much to help ourselves today, across the board," manager Clint Hurdle said. "We didn't have a lot of offense."

Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins was given the day off to iron out the kinks in his swing inside the batting cage. After going hitless the night before, Atkins slumped to .224.

Hurdle took a similar approach with Chris Iannetta and Troy Tulowitzki when they were struggling, benching them for what Hurdle called "work days."

"For some people, I guess it works," said Tulowitzki, who went 0-for-3 with a walk against the Giants to drop his average to .198. "I want to be in there every single day. ... Personally, I don't like them. But if you don't like them, you have one option - play better."

Notes: The Giants are 12-0 when scoring first. ... Rockies 1B Todd Helton singled in the fourth to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. He's 10 hits shy of 2,000. ... The Giants have hit 175 homers at Coors, the most by any opponent. ... Cain moved to 29-6 as a starter when the Giants score at least three runs for him. ... Marquis had a 5-0 lifetime mark at Coors Field before the loss.