ESPN.com Colorado/San Francisco recap

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Saturday, May 26 4:05pm ET
Rookie Chacon earns third straight victory

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Mark Little relished the chance to show off everything he's learning on the Colorado Rockies' bench.


	Ben Petrick tags out J.T. Snow on one of two assists from center fielder Mark Little.

Little doubled twice and singled, and also threw out two runners at the plate from center field as the Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants 10-4 Saturday.

In his first significant stretch in a major league uniform, Little has impressed the Rockies with his contributions from a limited role as their fifth outfielder.

Against the Giants, he was the Rockies' offensive catalyst from the leadoff spot. In just his ninth start of the season, Little scored three times and also hit a two-run double during a five-run fourth inning as Colorado overwhelmed San Francisco for the second straight day.

"I've never been in this situation of not playing, so I'm learning to deal with it by learning from the guys," said Little, who bumped his average to .351. "In the minors, you play every day, but I've learned more about pitchers and fielding and hitting in our first (48) games than I learned in my entire career.

"I wish I was 22 instead of (nearly) 29, but I'm trying to make the most of it."

Little, a non-roster invitee to spring training who was dropped by St. Louis last fall, also showed off a strong throwing arm. He threw out J.T. Snow at home in the third inning after Jeff Kent's short fly, and he gunned down Shawon Dunston an inning later on a remarkably similar play.

"Mark has done a great job every time he has played, and he probably deserves to play more," Colorado manager Buddy Bell said. "A month ago, people were wondering what he was going to be able to do for us. ... I guess they see now."

Shawn Chacon allowed seven hits in seven innings as the Rockies won their second straight in San Francisco after 13 straight losses dating back to April 1999. Ben Petrick added a two-run homer in the sixth, and seven Rockies drove in at least one run.

The Rockies gave plenty of offensive support to Chacon (3-1), who struck out four and allowed only Benito Santiago's solo homer in the second. Though the rookie didn't have his best pitches working, Bell praised Chacon's tenacity.

"I didn't have my best stuff, but it doesn't matter when you win," Chacon said. "We made some great defensive plays, and we got plenty of runs. I just had to battle and survive."

With his third straight victory, Chacon appears to have won a spot in the Rockies' rotation during a season he was expected to spend in Triple-A.

Colorado pulled away with five unearned runs in the fourth against Kirk Rueter (4-6), who lost his third straight decision. The burst, which began with shortstop Rich Aurilia's one-out throwing error, included Ron Gant's RBI triple off the right-field scoreboard and Neifi Perez's RBI double.

Defense again killed the Giants, who increased their error total to 45. In addition, Snow missed a foul pop down the line and Marvin Benard failed to make a sliding catch in center, allowing Colorado's big fourth inning to continue.

"(Rueter) threw the ball well, but we didn't play very good defense behind him," manager Dusty Baker said. "We're giving them too many runs, and we're working on it, but we're different than last year's team. We used to be a good defensive team."

With Barry Bonds getting a scheduled day off, Chacon and the Rockies were spared another chapter in Bonds' power surge. Though he was held homerless on Friday night, Bonds still has 10 homers in his last nine games.

The Giants got five extra-base hits against Chacon, including triples by Benard and Snow, but they struggled to score again.

Snow left the game after his home-plate collision with Petrick. The Giants said the struggling first baseman, who tripled and walked, has an upper chest bruise and probably won't play again until Tuesday.

San Francisco lost for the eighth time in 11 games while falling into a tie with the Rockies for last place in the NL West.

Game notes
Larry Walker drove in two runs while improving his average to .348. ... It was just the 14th career start for Little, who spent three weeks with the Cardinals in 1998. ... Aurilia, the NL's leading hitter, went 0-for-5, dropping his average to .360.