SAN FRANCISCO — Pablo Sandoval burst out of a pregame hitter’s meeting and excitedly pointed to his new T-shirt. It pictured the Joker from “Dark Knight” holding up a wild card with the Giants logo on it, and a one-word slogan below:
“Believe.”

Tim Lincecum fortified that belief Monday night. That’s what aces do.
The Giants must gather many more tricks to reach the playoffs, but their 9-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies was the start they needed.
Lincecum struck out 11 in seven innings, showing no ill effects from the back spasms that forced him to skip his previous turn.
And if a healthy Lincecum can’t inspire belief, what can?
His long, black hair limp with sweat, the 165-pound Cy Young winner put his team on his shoulders and validated a summer’s labor.
Bengie Molina, moved out of the cleanup spot for the first time in the post-Barry Bonds era, hit a solo home run and scored three runs in a game for the first time in four seasons. Aaron Rowand’s two-run single capped a three-run second inning and Eugenio Velez cleared the bases with a triple in the eighth as the Giants moved within 3 1/2 games of the wild-card leading Rockies.
They’ve got two more cracks at Colorado in this series, and the Rockies are vulnerable at AT&T Park. They’re 1-6 at China Basin this season, including five consecutive losses.
With the crowd rising for every potential strikeout pitch, Lincecum (14-5) threw changeups under the Rockies’ aggressive bats and powered fastballs into Molina’s glove.
He only missed one start, but it seemed like ages since he last took the mound Sept. 3. And while he had thrown quality starts in eight of 10 outings after the All-Star break, the Giants had been just 5-5 behind him.
Lincecum pitched big-money games down the stretch while stalking the Cy Young award last season, but he hadn’t pitched in a pennant race. It’s hard to imagine any start being more important in his career.
You know a game is a must-win when managers begin to break season-long habits. Bruce Bochy set a big precedent with his lineup, moving Molina from fourth to fifth.
Molina had been the Giants’ cleanup hitter in each of his last 244 starts. The last time Molina started and didn’t bat fourth was Sept. 26, 2007 — Bonds’ final major league game.
“Who am I to complain?” Molina said prior to the game. “I am who I am. I’m Bengie Molina.”
Molina started the three-run rally against Jason Hammel with a leadoff single, the first of four consecutive Giants hits. Rowand punched his bases-loaded hit through the right side and Eugenio Velez hit a sacrifice fly.
Lincecum was determined to make it hold up and he wasn’t afraid to shake off Molina to get the pitch he wanted.
The Rockies had a runner in scoring position in six of Lincecum’s seven innings, but he used his hard-breaking changeup to strike out Seth Smith to end the third. He froze Ian Stewart to strand two runners in the sixth.
Carlos Gonzalez hit a two-out triple in the seventh and scored when Lincecum threw a wild pitch while walking Todd Helton. But with the bullpen busy behind him, the crowd thundered as Lincecum struck out Troy Tulowitzki diving at another biting change.
Gonzalez’s run was the only one Lincecum has allowed to Colorado in his last two starts against them, spanning 15 innings.
But with Lincecum’s pitch count at 116 and his fastball lagging at 90 mph in the seventh, the Giants needed six outs from their bullpen. Jeremy Affeldt struck out two in the eighth and a six-run rally left a mop-up inning for Bob Howry.
Perhaps making up two games in two days will inspire more belief from the faithful. Or perhaps fans were more interested in the Raiders’ Monday night game. The Giants announced a paid crowd of 31,307, meaning there were more than 10,000 empty seats.
The Giants face a tougher task the next two days, when they’ll oppose hard-throwing right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez and crafty left-hander Jorge De La Rosa — the Rockies’ two best pitchers since the All-Star break. Barry Zito and Matt Cain will oppose them.