San Francisco @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 16, 2011 ) San Francisco 9, Colorado 1

THE STORY: The stars continued to align for the San Francisco Giants on Friday as they gained ground on two teams with a 9-1 rout over the Colorado Rockies. With losses by both Arizona and Atlanta, San Francisco climbed within six games of the Diamondbacks in the National League West and five of the Braves in the wild-card standings with 11 remaining. The Giants, who take on the Rockies on Saturday in a battle of left-handed rookies as their four-game series continues, have won six in a row. Colorado has lost three of four.

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, CSN Bay Area (San Francisco), Root Sports (Colorado)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants LH Eric Surkamp (2-0, 3.24 ERA) vs. Rockies LH Drew Pomeranz (1-0, 0.00 ERA).

Surkamp looks to remain undefeated as he makes his fourth career start. The 24-year-old posted back-to-back wins over San Diego in his last two outings, including an 8-3 triumph on Monday in which he allowed two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. Surkamp went 10-4 with a 2.02 ERA in 23 starts with Double-A Richmond before joining San Francisco.

Pomeranz makes his second major league start after yielding two hits over five scoreless innings en route to a victory over Cincinnati in his debut on Sunday. The 22-year-old, who was acquired from Cleveland in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade on July 30, became the seventh starting pitcher in franchise history to win in his first outing and third to do so without allowing a run. Pomeranz went 1-0 while tossing 10 scoreless frames in two starts with Double-A Tulsa prior to his callup.

ABOUT THE ROCKIES (70-80): Aaron Cook on Friday made his first relief appearance since Sept. 27, 2003, ending a string of 184 straight starts. Hector Gomez made his major league debut Friday, finishing 0-for-2 after entering in the seventh inning as a pinch-hitter and remaining in the game at shortstop. Gomez batted .235 with 14 home runs and 50 RBIs with Double-A Tulsa this season.

ABOUT THE GIANTS (81-70): Cody Ross belted his 100th career home run in the fifth inning Friday and added an RBI single in the sixth before leaving the game with a strained right hamstring. Ross has recorded five RBIs in his last five contests. Barry Zito made his first appearance since July 31, allowing a hit and striking out one in a scoreless inning of relief. Zito was activated from the disabled list Sunday after missing over a month with a sprained foot.

FINAL PITCH: San Francisco improved to 41-0 this season when owning a lead of three or more runs at some point.