The San Francisco Giants scored five runs in the top of the first inning and went on to beat the Colorado Rockies, 8-3, on Wednesday. The win was the Giants second straight after they dropped the first game of the series to the Rockies.
At 81-62, San Francisco now has a seven-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. They gained another game Wednesday as Los Angeles lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-2.
Tim Lincecum (9-14, 5.09 ERA) picked up the win for the Giants, allowing three earned runs over six innings. Lincecum struck out eight and has now won three of his last four decisions. The Giants spotted Lincecum an early five-run lead when they batted around in the first inning.
Marco Scutaro, Joaquin Arias, Hector Sanchez and Brandon Crawford all drove in runs during the first. The Rockies scored a run of their own in the first inning and added another on a Wilin Rosario home run in the third inning, but Colorado never pulled closer than three runs. Scutaro drove in another run in the sixth inning while San Francisco added two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth.
The Giants racked up 15 hits in the game, with six different players finishing with at least two hits. Seven different pitchers out of the bullpen combined to pitch three scoreless innings to secure the win.
The Giants will have Thursday off before starting a three-game series with the Diamondbacks on Friday.
For more on the Giants, head over to McCovey Chronicles. For the Rockies side of the story, check out Purple Row. For more on the league in general, make your way over to Baseball Nation.