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Bumgarner keeps Moyer winless as Giants down Rockies

Apr 13, 2012 - 12:50 AM Denver, CO (Sports Network) - It wasn't a son beating his father, though their age difference certainly matched up for that sort of thing.

Madison Bumgarner, 22, outdueled 49-year-old fellow lefty Jamie Moyer and the San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-2, on Thursday afternoon to close a three-game series.

Bumgarner (1-1) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and gave up just one run on four hits and two walks in 7 1/3 to beat Moyer, who was in his fourth MLB season already by the time the Giants starter was even born.

"It was pretty cool to throw against him," said Bumgarner. "I can see why he's still successful."

Moyer (0-2) went 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs -- two earned -- on eight hits and a walk in his second bid to become the oldest pitcher ever to record a win in the majors.

The Rockies loaded the bases and scored a run off Brian Wilson in the ninth, but the laboring Giants closer held on for his first save of the season.

Bumgarner shined, facing one batter over the minimum through five innings, and the Rockies were hitless until Tyler Colvin slapped a one-out triple in the sixth that bounced under the glove of Melky Cabrera and rolled to the wall.

Cabrera was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Brandon Crawford also had two hits and a run scored for the Giants, who won two of three in the series to finish off a six-game road trip 2-4.

After losing his first start of the season at Houston on Saturday, Moyer was trying again to top Jack Quinn's nearly 80-year-old MLB record as the oldest winning pitcher.

The Giants scored two runs after Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler dropped Ryan Theriot's catchable fly ball to the gap in the sixth -- runs that ended up being the difference.

Moyer came out after Angel Pagan hit an RBI single and Cabrera knocked in a run with a double to make it 4-0.

"Asking Jamie to get four outs in an inning -- or any of our pitchers -- will come back to haunt you and it did," said Tracy.

Moyer did set one record in the game: he was the oldest pitcher in MLB history to make multiple starts in a season. He struck out three and 74 of his 112 pitches went for strikes.

"I threw way too many pitches early in the game, but I made good pitches when I needed to," he said.

The Rockies didn't score their first run until Brett Pill's bloop RBI single in the third and Cabrera added a run-scoring single in the fourth.

Bumgarner gave up a leadoff walk to Troy Tulowitzki in the second, but he was retired on a double play. The only other Rockies batter to reach base before the sixth was Fowler, who walked with one out in the fourth.

Wilson faced seven hitters and threw 32 pitches in the bottom of the ninth. He got lucky when Todd Helton hit a ball on the nose with the bases loaded, but lined it to second baseman Emmanuel Burriss.

Play was stopped for several minutes with a 2-0 count on the next batter, Colvin, while Wilson was visited by the team's trainer. He threw a warmup pitch, remained in the game and walked Colvin to force in a run. But Marco Scutaro flied out to right field to end the game.

Game Notes

It was the third-largest age differential between starters in MLB history, behind only two Satchel Paige starts. Paige, 59, faced Bill Monbouquette, 29, on Sept. 25, 1965; and was 47 when he faced 18-year-old Bob Miller on Sept. 22, 1953...The Giants have won nine of their last 11 games versus the Rockies...Colorado's nine-game homestand continues this weekend with three against Arizona...The Giants will have their home opener Friday against Pittsburgh in the start of a three-game weekend series.