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Aug 30, 2009 - 6:00 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Colorado (72-57) at San Francisco (70-59), 4:05 p.m. EDT

Less than a week ago, the San Francisco Giants were sputtering in the NL wild-card race. Winning four of five has certainly changed that, and now Matt Cain will try to help them pull even with the Colorado Rockies for the league's final playoff spot.

Cain aims for his first win in more than a month and a three-game sweep of the Rockies on Sunday afternoon at AT&T Park.

The Giants (71-59) fell four games behind the Rockies (72-58) for the wild card after losing three of four road games to their NL West rivals, capped by a 6-4, 14-inning defeat Monday.

San Francisco has since responded by winning four of five, including a 5-3 victory over Colorado on Saturday, one night after winning the opener of this series 2-0.

If they can complete their first three game sweep in this series since April 8-10, 2005, the Giants will move into a tie with the Rockies and gain a share of the wild-card lead for the first time since Aug. 9.

For that to happen, they'll likely need to give Cain (12-4, 2.39 ERA) a little help.

The emerging ace, who was named to his first All-Star game last month, beat the Rockies 3-1 in Denver on July 24. He's 0-2 in six starts since, despite compiling a 2.72 ERA in that span and pitching through the seventh inning in each of those outings. The Giants have scored 11 total runs for Cain during the winless drought.

The right-hander was effective again Tuesday, yielding two runs - one earned - in seven innings while not getting a decision in a 5-4 win over Arizona.

Cain is 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA in three starts against the Rockies this season, winning the last two while allowing one run and four hits with 12 strikeouts in 13 innings. However, both of those outings came on the road. He's 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA in his last two home starts versus Colorado.

The Rockies, meanwhile, are looking to end to a season high-tying four-game losing streak. They haven't dropped five in a row since a seven-game slide last Sept. 6-13.

Manager Jim Tracy found some solace Saturday in his team's three runs and five hits during the ninth inning, including a homer by Brad Hawpe. The single-inning outburst came after Colorado had been held to three total runs and a .229 average over its previous three games, including two home losses to division-leading Los Angeles earlier in the week.

"I was encouraged by what we did offensively in the ninth inning," Tracy said. "Until then, we hadn't done too much offensively not only this series but you can go back to the second game of the Dodgers' series."

The Rockies' current skid has dropped them five games behind the Dodgers in the West. They'd climbed within two games after beating Los Angeles 5-4 in 10 innings on Tuesday.

Jason Hammel (8-7, 4.43) started that contest, allowing two runs in seven innings, and will return to the mound Sunday. The right-hander is 3-1 with a 3.64 ERA in his last five starts, four of which have been Colorado wins.

Hammel is 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA in two career starts against the Giants, both of them this season.