Giants' 3 homers back Cain's one-hit effort

Henry Schulman SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle First baseman Aubrey Huff was delighted with a winning April, which he enjoyed once in his seven full seasons with Tampa Bay and Baltimore.

"It's been a blast here," Huff said. "It's fun with our pitching staff. The only time we lose, really, is when we don't hit. If we hit, we're going to win a lot of games."

Saturday's 6-1 win against Colorado was the best schematic the Giants could draw. Juan Uribe hit a three-run homer in a four-run second inning, Bengie Molina homered in the third, and Huff reached McCovey Cove for the first time to help Matt Cain get his first win of 2010.

Cain's contribution was equally huge. In eight shutout innings, he held the Rockies to one hit, a Troy Tulowitzki double in the fourth, and struck out eight.

Cain was Mr. Adaptable. When he needed strikeouts to quell early walk-induced rallies, he got them. When he needed quick outs later to extend his outing, he got those, too, and retired his final 15 hitters.

"It was nice to get him a win," manager Bruce Bochy said. "He threw the ball well. We've had a tough time getting him a big hit, and today we did it."

The Giants also secured their third consecutive series win on a homestand against three of last year's four National League playoff teams.

Cain also helped himself with hustle. John Bowker's second-inning sacrifice fly might not have happened had Cain not busted up the line on his sacrifice bunt and reached first when second baseman Eric Young momentarily dropped a weak lob from catcher Miguel Oliva.

Cain's pitching was the real story, though. He was surprised to look at the board after three innings and see he had thrown 65 pitches. A long day seemed unlikely. But once he harnessed the great movement on his pitches, he was awfully tough.

"I feel I've been throwing all right," Cain said, "but I haven't been throwing like I've wanted to. Today I did."

Tulowitzki put it this way: "Cain is always good. Today he challenged the strike zone and his breaking stuff was right on. He made it very tough."

Naturally, the early barrage of runs against rookie Esmil Rogers in his second career start helped. Credit an assist to infielder Matt Downs, who faced Rogers twice in the minors and provided a scouting report: Rogers throws gas.

The Giants were unim- pressed. After Molina's leadoff walk in the second, Huff singled to right. One out later, Uribe jacked his team-leading third homer into the seats well into left-center, the Giants' third three-run homer of the year.

Walks to Nate Schierholtz and Andres Torres surrounding the Cain bunt and error set up Bowker's sacrifice fly. Molina homered leading off the third, and Huff capped the Giants' potent offensive showing with the 51st splash home run by a Giant and the first since Pablo Sandoval's in August.

"I knew it could be done," Huff said. "I've done it in batting practice."

Uribe has five RBIs in two games since returning from his elbow injury. Huff is 5-for-6 with a double, homer and two walks in the same two games since being dropped to fifth in the order.

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