Lincecum helps SF gain ground on Rockies (AP)

Tim Lincecum had reached 127 pitches through eight innings and would gladly have gone back out for the ninth if only manager Bruce Bochy had let him. The San Francisco Giants ace still did more than his part in one of the team's biggest games yet of 2009. Lincecum struck out eight in eight innings to end a four-start winless stretch, Pablo Sandoval homered and the Giants gained ground on the…