Estes, Greene power Rockies



The long break didn't faze the Colorado pitcher.
DENVER (AP) -- Long rain delays can cause some pitchers problems.
Not Shawn Estes. You'd think he likes delays the way he pitches after the skies clear.
Estes scattered seven hits over eight innings after a nearly 21/2 hour rain delay and Todd Greene gave him plenty of help with two long homers and four RBIs, lifting the Colorado Rockies to a 7-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.
It was Estes' third win in games delayed or postponed because of rain, and that doesn't even include the numerous times he's pitched through bad weather this season.
"I feel like I have pitched a lot of games with delays," said Estes, who has his most wins since going 9-8 with the Giants in 2001. "They can call me 'mudder' now, since I'm always playing in the mud.
"I've done pretty well in the games we've had delays. I just try to wait it out and when the bell rings, be ready to pitch."
Quick recovery
Estes had trouble getting loose in the bullpen after the game was delayed 2 hours, 25 minutes due to heavy rain. He didn't take long to get going once it started.
Spending little time off the mound and taking signs quickly from Greene, Estes (9-4) allowed a pair of singles in the first three innings before giving up a run in the fourth on Pedro Feliz's RBI double.
The left-hander allowed four hits after that and had 14 groundball outs to surpass his win total from a year ago, when he was 8-11 with the Chicago Cubs.
"He was very efficient," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "He spent a lot of time on the dirt, he worked quick, but didn't hurry. He controlled their bat speed and never got in any serious situations. He was very effective, as good as we have seen him all year."
Colorado gave up four runs in the ninth inning in a disheartening 7-5 loss to San Francisco on Thursday, but didn't give the Giants a chance to come back in this one.
Hit barrage
Greene had his third career multihomer game, Matt Holliday hit his 10th homer and the Rockies had 11 hits for their ninth win in 12 games.
San Francisco got a decent start out of Kirk Rueter (5-7), but didn't give him much help. The Giants had eight hits -- three by Feliz -- and managed just three runners past second base to see their four-game winning streak end.
"We didn't do much," Giants manager Felipe Alou said.
The Giants seemed sluggish after the delay, but Rockies didn't take long to warm up.
Todd Helton hit a two-out single off Rueter in the first inning, and Vinny Castilla followed with a run-scoring triple off the base of the wall in right-center.
Surprise bunt
Power hitter Larry Walker then surprised the Giants by dropping a bunt single on the next pitch to make it 2-0, easily beating third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo's throw after the ball trickled just inside the line on the wet grass.
Greene took it from there.
He hit a 445-foot, three-run homer to left in the fourth inning, then followed Holliday's solo homer in the seventh with a 438-foot shot to left on the next pitch. It was Greene's seventh of the year -- third off Rueter -- and fourth in his past three starts.
"I'm just in one of those streaks right now," Greene said. "I'm not trying to do it, but good things are happening when I'm hitting right now and hopefully it keeps going."
Rueter only made a couple of bad pitches. Greene's three-run homer wasn't one of them.
With a 3-2 count and two outs, Rueter tried to throw a fastball low and away. He got the low part right, but put the ball closer to the middle of the plate than he would have liked.
It wasn't a bad pitch, but the low-ball hitting Greene still hit it out.
"Didn't really try and throw a strike and I don't think it would have been a strike," said Rueter, who allowed five runs on seven hits in six innings to lose for the first time since June 10 against Tampa Bay.
"He had a good pitch and hit it out."
Notes
After walking three times Thursday, Barry Bonds went 1-for-4 with no walks. Colorado had its shift on the Giants slugger played perfectly, with 2B Aaron Miles throwing him out from shallow right in the sixth inning and SS Royce doing the same from behind second base.
Castilla has 74 RBIs, two short of his total last season with Atlanta.
Holliday has been involved in four of the eight times Colorado has hit homers in consecutive at-bats this season.
San Francisco is 20-10 against left-handed starters.
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