SAN FRANCISCO — Tim Lincecum had reached 127 pitches through eight innings and would gladly have gone back out for the ninth if only manager Bruce Bochy had let him.

The San Francisco Giants ace still did more than his part in one of the team's biggest games yet of 2009.

Lincecum struck out eight in eight innings to end a four-start winless stretch, Pablo Sandoval homered and the Giants gained ground on the wild-card leading Colorado Rockies with a 2-0 victory last night.

"We're coming down the stretch here to the last month," Lincecum (13-4) said. "These are really big games. We've got to buckle down."

The Giants pulled within two games of the Rockies in the wild card and six of the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers.

This win certainly provided a boost for San Francisco four days after the Rockies rallied for a 6-4, 14-inning win Monday night on Ryan Spilborghs' game-ending grand slam after the Giants had scored three in the top half.

Sandoval hit a solo homer in the fifth to break up a scoreless game. He was back in the lineup after missing three straight starts, two with tightness in his right calf and then Thursday's 11-0 loss to Arizona with the flu.

REDS 4, DODGERS 2

Homer Bailey (4-4) allowed seven singles over eight innings and Jonny Gomes had an RBI single and a solo homer off Chad Billingsley (12-8) to lead visiting Cincinnati over Los Angeles for its season-high fifth straight win.

PHILLIES 4, BRAVES 2

Ryan Howard homered twice, Jamie Moyer gave up a run and four hits over 4 1/3 innings out of the bullpen as host Philadelphia beat Atlanta in game delayed twice by rain for an 1 hour and 48 minutes.

BREWERS 8, PIRATES 6

Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Jason Bourgeois homered and host Milwaukee snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Pittsburgh for the 19th consecutive time at Miller Park. It's last loss to the Pirates in Milwaukee on May 3, 2007.

PADRES 9, MARLINS 5

Will Venable hit a pair of RBI singles in a six-run second inning, Kyle Blanks added a two-run homer during that outburst and visiting San Diego handed Florida its sixth loss in nine games.

CARDINALS 3, NATIONALS 2

John Smoltz gave up a run and four hits with six strikeouts over six innings, but left with no decision, and Albert Pujols led off the bottom of the ninth with his 41st homer to lift St. Louis over Washington.

CUBS 5, METS 2

Alfonso Soriano made up for several miscues in the outfield with a tie-breaking three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning as host Chicago beat New York. Soriano hit an 0-2 pitch for his 20th homer of the season and first since July 29.

DIAMONDBACKS 14, ASTROS 7

John Hester hit a towering 420-foot homer in his first major league at-bat, and Alex Romero and Miguel Montero also went deep as host Arizona scored seven runs in the third inning in a rout Houston.