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Giants-Rockies Preview

Aug 23, 2009 - 5:49 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

San Francisco (67-55) at Colorado (68-54), 3:10 p.m. EDT

The last time the San Francisco Giants sent ace Tim Lincecum to the mound, he had one of his worst outings of the season. A start against the Colorado Rockies may not be the ideal situation for him to rebound.

Lincecum will try to help the Giants cut into the Rockies' slim wild-card lead Sunday afternoon when the teams meet again at Coors Field.

Lincecum (12-3, 2.37 ERA), who leads the majors with 207 strikeouts and ranks second in ERA, gave up a season high-tying five runs in six innings of an 8-5, 10-inning win at Cincinnati on Tuesday. That performance came after the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner went 2-0 while allowing four earned runs in 32 2-3 innings over his previous four starts, with San Francisco (67-56) winning three of them.

"I didn't feel like I had my rhythm," Lincecum told the Giants' official Web site. "I didn't feel like I had my stuff. I didn't feel like myself. ... It was pretty terrible."

Lincecum hasn't pitched well against the Rockies (69-54), going 3-2 with a 4.40 ERA in eight career starts. He hasn't faced them since a 9-4 loss Sept. 23, when he allowed six runs with nine strikeouts and five walks in 4 1-3 innings.

He'll likely need to improve on that effort to help San Francisco cut into Colorado's two-game wild-card lead after falling 14-11 on Saturday. The Giants, who had climbed to within one game following Friday's 6-3 victory in the opener of this key four-game series, appeared on the verge of tying Colorado on Saturday, but let an early five-run lead slip away.

"We haven't had too many meltdowns this year," manager Bruce Bochy said. "We couldn't stop the bleeding."

Todd Helton played a key role in the Rockies' comeback Saturday, hitting a solo homer in a seven-run sixth inning and driving in two more runs.

The first baseman is 7 for 17 over his last five games, and ranks among the NL leaders with a .322 batting average. He's had great success against Lincecum, going 7 for 12 against the two-time All-Star.

Colorado will try to win for the sixth time in seven games, and create a little more breathing room in the playoff race. Giving the ball to Ubaldo Jimenez (11-9, 3.41) could help.

The right-hander is looking to extend his winning streak to six and equal the career high in victories he set last year.

He's 5-0 with a 2.49 ERA in his last seven starts, and has compiled a 1.47 ERA over his last four - all wins.

Jimenez was outstanding again Tuesday, yielding two runs in eight innings of a 4-3 win at Washington. It was the third time in his last four trips to the mound that he logged eight innings.

Jimenez is 2-2 with a 2.44 ERA in seven starts against the Giants, going 1-1 with a 1.38 ERA in four matchups at Coors Field. He beat them in Denver on May 6, allowing one run in seven innings of an 11-1 Rockies victory.