Times wires
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
DENVER — The Rockies turned to their Big Os — Ubaldo, CarGo and Tulo — to send a message to the Giants that they're not going to fade away.
Carlos Gonzalez's two-run single off Javier Lopez capped a four-run eighth and Colorado surged back into first place in the NL West with a 5-3 win Tuesday.
With the two-game sweep, the Rockies, who also got a solo homer from Troy Tulowitzki, moved a half-game ahead of San Francisco and snapped a streak of nine losses in games started by ace Ubaldo Jimenez.
Although he's still winless since Sept. 17, Jimenez showed signs of his old self with seven sharp innings.
"It felt really good to have a game like that," Jimenez said. "The last five games that I had have been really bad and today I was able to locate the fastball."
Through seven, it appeared as if the Giants would get their sixth win in eight tries against the Rockies.
"It's nice to walk out of here being in first place," Tulowitzki said. "It's nice to kind of answer back, throw a few punches."