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Colorado responded by winning 10 of their first 11 games in September, including a 9 – 1 home stand.

When they returned to San Francisco for their final series with the Giants on September 14, the Rockies had once again built a large Wild Card lead.

But as in the previous series, San Francisco won the first two games behind Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito, cutting the Rockies Wild Card lead to 2. 5.

In a pivotal swing game that would either see the Rockies leave San Francisco with a 1. 5 game lead or a 3. 5 game lead, Colorado once again built a large lead against Matt Cain in the finale of the series on September 16.

Thanks to 8 brilliant innings from Jorge De La Rosa, and home runs from Troy Tulowitzki and Ian Stewart, the Rockies took a 4 – 0 lead into the bottom of the 9th.

With closer Huston Street injured, the Rockies turned to Franklin Morales, but the Giants started the inning with 3 straight hits to pull to within 4 – 1.

Rafael Betancourt was summoned once again, and induced a ground ball off Juan Uribe's bat.

However, an errant throw by Tulowitzki sailed past Clint Barmes and into right field, scoring another run and putting runners at 1st and 3rd.

Pinch runner Eugenio Vélez would then steal second base, putting the tying run in scoring position.

In a rematch of their August match-up, Betancourt got Edgar Rentería to pop out on the infield for the first out.

However, pinch hitter Randy Winn followed with an RBI groundout, cutting the deficit to 4 – 3 and moving the tying run to 3rd.

With a full count, Betancourt struck out pinch hitter Nate Schierholtz to secure the save.