DENVER — On a sweltering Sunday afternoon, the Colorado Rockies found a way to slow down Tim Lincecum.

More than one way, actually.
Seth Smith hit one of Lincecum’s few mistakes, a hanging changeup, for a two-run home run in the seventh inning that put the Colorado Rockies ahead to stay in a 4-2 victory over the Giants.
Afterward, Lincecum stopped just short of accusing the Rockies of monkeying with the stadium radar display, which showed his fastball in the 88-90 mph range.
“Whether they’re messing with it or doing something, I don’t feel I was throwing 88-90,” said Lincecum, whose pitches registered closer to 93 mph on the local TV broadcast. “I’ll say this: They weren’t putting 90 mph swings on the fastball.”
The Giants will go nowhere fast if they keep failing to seize the day behind their ace. They are 4-4 in Lincecum’s starts since the All-Star break, they’re three games behind the Rockies in the NL wild-card standings and they need a victory today to split this four-game series.
“We’ve been beating ourselves the last couple days,” said Lincecum, who carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning. “Hopefully we find ourselves again. This is the biggest gap we’ve had in the wild card, so tomorrow is a big game to scratch back.”
A day after these teams combined for 25 runs, Lincecum and hard-throwing right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez, two of the most gifted arms in the league, combined for a riveting pitcher’s duel.
Edgar Renteria hit a two-run home run off Jimenez (12-9) in the second inning, but the veteran shortstop couldn’t make a play to preserve Lincecum’s no-hit bid in the sixth.
Todd Helton’s weak line drive short-hopped past Renteria’s glove for a single. After a two-out walk to Brad Hawpe, Lincecum gave up a single to Ian Stewart that right fielder Nate Schierholtz fielded on one bounce.
First baseman Ryan Garko inexplicably cut off the throw, even though it appeared on line and Schierholtz has a tremendous arm. Garko’s relay to the plate was a split-second late as Helton rumbled home from second base.
Rockies reliever Huston Street, who had a straightaway view from beyond the right-field fence, said the bullpen celebrated when Garko cut off the on-target throw.
“Yeah, he knows it wasn’t a good decision,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “I talked to him. There was no (call to) cut. We had him at the plate. He knows he shouldn’t have cut the ball off.”
Garko was less contrite when asked if he thought Schierholtz’s throw was off line.
“Maybe. I don’t know,” he said. “You’ve just got to make a reaction and go with it. Once you make the decision, you can’t look back.”
Lincecum wasn’t always on his game, as evidenced when he pitched from the stretch with the bases empty.
“I was erratic — all over the place,” Lincecum said. “I had a hard time finding it. I’ve got a lot of working parts in my windup, so I try to simplify things at times.”
His fifth and final walk was the costliest. Omar Quintanilla drew it while leading off the seventh, and Smith crushed a hanging changeup well beyond the right-field scoreboard to give the Rockies a one-run lead.
Lincecum worked hard in the 90-degree heat, throwing 121 pitches. So did Jimenez, who is 5-0 in August and continued to blow 97 mph gas in the eighth.
“I was trying to leave everything I had out there on the field,” Lincecum said. “I gave it everything, but “... tough luck.”
Smith, the league’s best pinch hitter, was in the lineup only because Carlos Gonzalez punctured his hand with a steak knife while dining at his home Saturday night.
For the Giants, losing behind Lincecum is the cruelest cut of all.