The rain stayed away, and the San Francisco Giants finally squeezed in another game.
Barry Zito gave up three hits in six innings for his first victory with San Francisco, and Ray Durham and Bengie Molina hit back-to-back homers in the third as the Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 8-0 Monday night in Denver.
San Francisco hadn't played since Friday night due to rain in Pittsburgh. In a game played under overcast skies, Barry Bonds was one of five San Francisco players and coaches to wear Jackie Robinson's No. 42 — a tribute pushed back a day because of the rain.
Bonds was 1-for-3 with a walk, narrowly missing his fourth home run of the season. His fourth-inning drive to right landed just below the yellow line on the fence, and the ball hit so hard off the wall that Bonds had to hold at first with a single.
Zito (1-2) combined with three relievers on a six-hitter. Zito, just 12-17 in the month of April during his career, struck out four and walked three as he improved to 86-4 when his team scores four or more runs.
After Colorado loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth, Zito struck out Jamey Carroll. Relievers Vinnie Chulk, Kevin Correia and Steve Kline pitched an inning apiece.
"We have some fresh arms," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said before the game.
Jeff Francis (1-1) lasted only five innings and gave up seven runs and nine hits. He was pushed back from Sunday as he completed a five-game suspension, assessed after the commissioner's office said he intentionally threw at San Diego's Kevin Kouzmanoff during a spring training game.
Omar Vizquel had four singles, scored twice and drove in two runs. Durham had a three-run homer to right and Molina followed with a solo shot to left in the Giants' five-run third inning. It was the first home run of the season for both. Durham now has a hit in all 11 of San Francisco's games this season.
Colorado was blanked at home for the first time since a 1-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Aug. 1.
ASTROS 4, MARLINS 3: At Houston, right fielder Joe Borchard crashed into Dan Uggla, knocking Morgan Ensberg's ninth-inning, bases-loaded foul pop out of the second baseman's glove. Given another chance, Ensberg singled to left on the next pitch, giving the Houston Astros a 4-3 win over the Marlins.
CUBS 12, PADRES 4: At Chicago, the Chicago Cubs shook up their lineup. Then, Alfonso Soriano got shaken up. Soriano came out in the fifth inning Monday night after straining his left hamstring while attempting a diving catch in Chicago's 12-4 rout of the San Diego Padres. Jason Marquis (1-1) allowed one run in six innings to win for the first time in three starts since signing a $21 million, three-year contract with the Cubs. He beat Clay Hensley (0-3), who was tagged for 10 runs and 11 hits in five-plus innings.
PIRATES 3, CARDINALS 2: At St. Louis, Albert Pujols popped up with the bases loaded for the final out, and Pittsburgh got an excellent pitching performance from Ian Snell to beat St. Louis. Snell (1-1) threw seven innings of three-hit ball and Xavier Nady had two RBIs, helping the Pirates snap a four-game losing streak. Salomon Torres escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth for his fifth save.
BREWERS 10, REDS 6: At Cincinnati, Bill Hall broke out of a slump with his first career grand slam, a seventh-inning shot that powered Milwaukee over Cincinnati. Hall was in a 1-for-22 rut when he connected off reliever Todd Coffey, the Brewers' first grand slam since J.J. Hardy connected on Sept. 7, 2005, also in Cincinnati. That game featured the same two starting pitchers.
NATIONALS 5, BRAVES 1: At Washington, Matt Chico overcame a shaky start to earn his first major league win, and Dmitri Young honored Jackie Robinson a day late with three hits and two RBIs in Washington's victory over Atlanta. With only a few shivering souls in the stands at RFK Stadium, Chico (1-1) allowed just one run in five-plus innings despite walking five and striking out none.
DODGERS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 1: At Phoenix, Nomar Garciaparra drove in two runs with a homer and a double as Los Angeles won for the ninth time in 11 games, beating Arizona.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RED SOX 7, ANGELS 2: At Boston, the Red Sox wasted no time after more than 24 hours of rain to resume their hot hitting. Boston scored six runs in the first inning and beat the Los Angeles Angels behind Josh Beckett's third straight strong outing. The game began two hours, 13 minutes after its originally scheduled starting time of 10:05 a.m. and Julio Lugo started Boston's rally with the first of the team's four doubles.
ORIOLES 9, DEVIL RAYS 7: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Melvin Mora and Freddie Bynum each hit a two-run homer, and the Baltimore Orioles overcame a six-run deficit to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Bynum's two-run shot pulled the Orioles to 7-3 in the sixth. His RBI grounder during a five-run seventh put Baltimore ahead 8-7. Aubrey Huff added a solo homer.
TIGERS 12, ROYALS 5: At Detroit, seven months later, the Detroit Tigers managed to beat the Kansas City Royals. Ivan Rodriguez had a grand slam and six RBIs to back Justin Verlander's first win of the season in the Tigers' victory over the Royals. Carlos Guillen had four RBIs for the Tigers, who were swept by last-place Kansas City last season.