Giants Video

Cain's shutout

Cain's solid start

Rockies Video

Hammel's scoreless start

Hammel snags a liner

It's only early July, yet manager Jim Tracy has had to find replacement after replacement and deal with injury after injury in the hunt for a division title against teams like the Giants, who they face for the 10th time this season in the series finale Sunday.

"Three-fifths of our rotation, our shortstop, basically dealing with two bouts of our right fielder, our first baseman hasn't been completely himself throughout the course of the season," Tracy said. "Our organization, front-office wise, did a terrific job of adding a few players to fill gaps when gaps created themselves."

In the absence of players like star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, Clint Barmes has stepped up and is now riding an 11-game hit streak. Meanwhile, Jonathan Herrera made his 15th straight start at second base on Saturday and recorded three hits, meaning he's hit in 14 of 15 games.

"It's very safe to say that Jonathan Herrera, with the opportunities he's been given, has proven himself to be a very capable player," Tracy said.

However, even with the continued success of Barmes and Herrera on Saturday night, the Rockies' eight runs were still not enough in an 11-8 defeat at the hands of the Giants.

Giants: Slide over
The Giants' win Saturday night ended a rough seven game-losing streak. Manager Bruce Bochy held a pregame meeting with the pitching staff, and although no pitching problem was solved by the win, at least they got back into the win column. ... Matt Cain will make his 21st career start against the Rockies, tying with the Padres for the team he has faced the most. He's racked up 10 wins and a 2.96 ERA over his career against Colorado, including a 2-0 record already this season.

Rockies: Hammel asked to get Rox back on track
Jason Hammel has had the tough task of following up Ubaldo Jimenez's dominant starts, but Sunday, he'll have to help the Rockies bounce back from a loss in which Jimenez allowed seven runs. Hammel is 6-1 since returning from the disabled list after going 0-2 beforehand to start the season. Five of those wins came at home, where he'll try to earn his first career win against the Giants. He's 0-2 in five starts despite a 3.03 ERA against them.

Worth noting
The Giants' win on Saturday closed the season gap to 5-4 in favor of the Rockies. The Giants are still just 9-19 against NL West foes this year. ... Ryan Spilborghs is the only member of the Rockies with a .300 or better average against Cain. Next best is Ian Stewart at .227.