Giants' Lewis hits for cycle four days after season debut

Giants 15, Rockies 2

DENVER (AP) -- Fred Lewis forgot the flowers. So, at game's end the first thing he did was call his mother.

"This was my Mothers Day gift to mom," the San Francisco rookie said Sunday after hitting for the cycle and powering the Giants past the Colorado Rockies 15-2. "I called her to tell her I hadn't gotten her anything -- until now."

Four days after being called up from Triple-A Fresno, Lewis became the 24th player in franchise history to hit for the cycle. He went 5-for-6 and drove in four runs, three on his first major league home run.

He's just the fourth major leaguer in history to hit his first home run as part of a cycle.

"I didn't wake up thinking I'd have a game like this. I never would have thought I'd have a day like today. I am just glad to get into the lineup," Lewis said after his 16th major league game and just his fourth start.

He doubled in the first, and hit 1-0 pitch over the left-field wall in the fourth off right-hander Taylor Buchholz (1-2). He greeted reliever Tom Martin with a run-scoring triple in the fifth and sent a Denny Bautista fastball into right field for a single in the seventh that sparked a six-run inning.

"I wasn't thinking about it," Lewis said. "I didn't hear anything from the guys in the dugout. There were fans behind the on deck circle that were yelling at me that I needed a single. I thought about it a little, but I tried to wash it off my mind when I went to the plate."

Lewis' last single came later in the seventh off Zach McClellan.

"We didn't pitch him as effectively as we'd like to," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "We've got a lot of areas now where we know not to throw the ball to after this game. We were able to pick up a lot of that."

Giants manager Bruce Bochy was glad to suddenly have an abundance of outfield options. He said Randy Winn will face left-handers and Lewis will play against right-handers.

"Fred has so many skills, both at the plate and in the field," Bochy said. "He is something special and someone that will only get better with time. He hasn't been playing baseball that long. He has a football background. He will get better. He isn't bad right now."

In 11 at-bats over 13 games for San Francisco last season, Lewis had just one extra-base hit, a double in his major league debut. He became the first rookie to hit for the cycle since Houston's Luke Scott on July 28 last season against Arizona, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Giants had a season-best 22 hits, including a career-high four by Kevin Frandsen, who drove in three runs, one with a bases-loaded walk. The beneficiary of all the offense was the usually hard-luck right-hander Matt Cain. Until Sunday, the Giants were just 1-6 in his starts despite Cain holding opponents to a .194 batting average.

Staked to an early lead, Cain (2-3) gave up one run and five hits in six innings.

Barry Bonds sat out as the Giants went to their bench to salvage a four-game split and kept the Rockies from winning their first home series since taking two of three from Arizona to start the season.

Bonds remained 10 home runs shy of Hank Aaron's record 755 after cooling off in Colorado, where he didn't go long once.

Lewis is 7-for-14 with seven RBIs since getting called up Thursday, when Dave Roberts went on the 15-day disabled list after opting for surgery on his troublesome left elbow and the Giants designated struggling outfielder Todd Linden for assignment.

Lewis scored on a balk by Buchholz in the first. He made it 4-0 when he sent a 1-0 pitch over the left-field wall with two on in the fourth and his run-scoring triple in the fifth made it 8-0.

Buchholz surrendered eight earned runs and 12 hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out seven but, like the rest of the Rockies, didn't have an answer for Lewis.

"He put the barrel on us all day long," Hurdle said.

Game notes
Lewis' cycle was the 24th in Giants history and first since Winn's on Aug. 15, 2005, at Cincinnati. ... Bautista was shipped to Triple-A Colorado Springs after allowing six runs on seven hits in 1/3 of an inning. Rockies RHP Albert Arias also was optioned to Colorado Springs as the Rockies made room for RHP Jorge Julio, acquired Sunday from Florida for RHP Byung-Hyun Kim, and RHP Ramon Ramirez, returning from an injured right elbow.