Giants defeat Rockies 5-4 in 11th inning

DENVER — Moments after scoring the winning run for the Giants, Nori Aoki was in the middle of a playful clubhouse celebration in which he was presented with his AL championship ring from his time last season with the Kansas City Royals, the team San Francisco beat in the World Series.

Aoki scored from third on Joe Panik's bunt down the first base line in the 11th inning, lifting the Giants to a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night.

'It was a very good 15 minutes,' Aoki said through a translator. But he added that figuring in the decisive play for his new team was more gratifying at the moment.

'The ring's nice but that's in the past,' he said.

Aoki reached on a leadoff walk, his fourth walk of the night, from Brooks Brown (0-1) and was sacrificed to second. Angel Pagan followed with a single to center, but Drew Stubbs' strong throw forced Aoki to hold up.

Panik then had a well-placed bunt down the line that allowed Aoki to break for the plate, and he was just ahead of the throw home.

'He's fast,' Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. 'It was a good slide. It was a good read on his part, got a good jump. I thought we had had to win this one (after) they tied it late. This was a big game for us.'

Rockies manager Walt Weiss said first baseman Justin Morneau fielded the bunt cleanly and quickly.

'He must have got a good jump because the ball was bunted hard,' Weiss said. '(Morneau) made a good throw. The guy just beat the throw.'

Jean Machi (1-0) pitched 1⅔ scoreless innings for the win, which snapped a five-game losing streak to the Rockies dating to last season. San Francisco has never lost six in a row to Colorado.

Justin Maxwell and Andrew Susac homered for San Francisco, and Buster Posey had an RBI double in the first.

With the game tied at 2, Posey singled ahead of Maxwell's sixth-inning drive off Scott Oberg that umpires initially ruled had not gone out of the ballpark. But a replay review, initiated by crew chief John Hirschbeck, showed the ball clearly bounced off the topping beyond the yellow line atop the right field scoreboard before going into the seats for Maxwell's third homer of the season.

Colorado closed to 4-3 on Carlos Gonzalez's homer off Tim Hudson in the sixth, and then tied it in the ninth.

Jeremy Affeldt retired Gonzalez on a comebacker and then was relieved by closer Santiago Casilla. Nick Hundley and DJ LeMahieu hit successive singles, putting runners at the corners.

Hundley scored the tying run from third on Stubbs' fielder's choice in which Matt Duffy tagged out LeMahieu as he broke for second, leading to Casilla's first blown save in six chances this season.

Hudson had been in position for his first career win in nine starts at Coors Field.

Colorado star Troy Tulowitzki hit his 100th career home run at Coors leading off the third, and Charlie Blackmon had a run-scoring single in the second.

Rockies left-hander Jorge De La Rosa, coming off his season debut in which he went two innings and allowed nine runs, improved markedly. He allowed two runs and four hits over five innings with seven strikeouts.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Giants: RHP Matt Cain is about to take the next step in his rehabilitation of a flexor tendon strain. He is set to play catch Tuesday for the first time since going on the 15-day disabled list. ... INF Travis Ishikawa, on the DL with a lower back strain, has suffered a setback in his rehab and will resume a rest regimen.

Rockies: LF Corey Dickerson hasn't had a flare-up of the plantar fasciitis in his left foot since sitting out last Tuesday's game against San Diego. The team continues to monitor him closely.

PREGAME INTRODUCTION

After the Rockies' pregame batting practice, 3B Nolan Arenado came over to the visiting dugout and introduced himself to Jon Miller, telling the longtime Giants broadcaster he was a fan of his work. 'That doesn't happen too often,' Miller said.

UP NEXT

Giants: RHP Tim Lincecum (1-1) will be seeking his first win in three years Sunday against the Rockies. He is 11-10 in 39 previous starts against Colorado.

Rockies: LHP Tyler Matzek (1-0) faces the Giants for the third time in his career. He is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA against them.