Giants get win after delay of three-plus months

DENVER -- Proving that momentum can be retroactive under the proper circumstances, the Giants sustained their current surge and won Monday's suspended game against the Colorado Rockies, 4-2.

Foul weather halted the game May 22 with the score tied, 2-2, and Colorado batting in the bottom of the sixth inning with a runner on first base and two outs. Instead of facing Rockies All-Star Troy Tulowitzki, who was due up but is now on the disabled list, Giants left-hander Jeremy Affeldt confronted Josh Rutledge, who struck out.

Officially, the outcome did not lengthen the Giants' current six-game winning streak. That hinged on the result of Monday's regularly scheduled game. But this continuation did improve San Francisco's marvelous May record to 20-9.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy credited Affeldt (4-2) for pointing the Giants in the right direction.

"It started with Affeldt," Bochy said. "He really set the tone."

In fact, though Bochy chose Affeldt for his balanced effectiveness against left- and right-handed batters, the hurler's distant yet not-forgotten experience as a starter for Kansas City more than 10 years ago influenced Bochy's choice.

"I thought the preparation would bring back good memories for him," Bochy said.

Led by Affeldt, San Francisco's bullpen logged 3 1/3 shutout innings, with Sergio Romo working the eighth and Santiago Casilla handling the ninth for his 14th save. It's worth remembering that Casilla went on the disabled list May 22 with an injured right hamstring, one day after his ill-advised sprint to first base following a rare at-bat.

The Giants forged ahead in the eighth. Andrew Susac singled off third baseman Nolan Arenado's glove, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch and scored on Hunter Pence's double. Buster Posey's infield hit set up pinch-hitter Travis Ishikawa's RBI single.

Pence gave the Giants their first run of the game back on May 22 with a homer in the fourth, and Pablo Sandoval added an RBI single later in that frame. The game was twice delayed by rain, with the second interruption resulting in the contest's suspension.

The game's resumption after nearly 3 1/2 months led to some intriguing wrinkles.

Had Affeldt's inherited runner scored, David Huff, who's no longer with the Giants, would have been the losing pitcher. That runner was Michael Cuddyer, who singled off Huff on May 22 (Cuddyer also has been sidelined and was replaced by a pinch-runner).

Given the dates of the Major League debuts for Susac (July 26), Joe Panik (June 21) and Duffy (Aug. 1), all of whom appeared in the continuation, was this actually their first big league game?

If the Giants were caught in a time warp, it was a friendly one.