SAN FRANCISCO _ Last time out, the San Francisco Giants let starting pitcher Jake Peavy down with some shaky defense.
On the Fourth of July, the Giants picked Peavy up, and the result was a 3-1 win over the Colorado Rockies before a crowd of 41,874.
The Giants got all the runs they would need in the second and third innings on a solo home run by Buster Posey and a two-run shot by Angel Pagan.
Peavy lasted 6 2/3 innings, getting the kind of defense that eluded the Giants in Oakland against the A's. His nightmarish start to the season a distant memory, Peavy improved to 5-7, walking two and striking out six.
In his last eight games, Peavy is 4-2 with a 2.27 earned run average.
Five relievers staged a relay to the finish line, with Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo, Josh Osich, Derek Law and, finally, Santiago Casilla closing out the Rockies as the Giants improved to 53-32.
When Peavy left the mound in favor of Lopez, he received a rousing ovation, and he obliged the crowd with a tip of his cap.
"Look, any time you're walking off the field, and know you've done your job to the best of your ability, and the results are there, then you're excited," Peavy said. "I love when the fans show support. It feels a whole lot better than it did walking off the mound to some of the stuff that was being said earlier in the year."
No inning was bigger than the top of the second, when the Rockies loaded the bases with one out, and a confused Peavy balked home what turned out to be the lone Colorado run of the game.
Peavy had made a pickoff attempt at first base, but with Brandon Belt playing in, the throw to a stationary Belt wasn't an actual attempt at all _ just a mistake that brought in a run.
"I'm confused about the rule," Peavy said. "He's got to be moving toward the bag, I guess."
No matter.
Peavy struck out pitcher Tyler Anderson swinging and got Charlie Blackmon on a ground ball to first, and the Rockies had just a single run.
"That could have been the big difference in the game," Posey said. "Limiting them to one run was very important."
Posey tied it leading off the second with his 10th home run of the season, and Pagan hitting No. 4 an inning later with Ruben Tejada aboard.
The Giants managed only five hits, but quality defensive play and a bullpen that has given up its share of leads of late made the lead hold up.
Among the defensive gems by the Giants:
_A diving catch by right fielder Mac Williamson on a drive by Mark Reynolds against Peavy leading off the seventh.
"I thought I had a chance, but as I was leaving my feet, I was thinking if I can't get there, I've got to keep it in front because it's at least two and maybe three bags," Williamson said. "As well as Peavy threw the last time (against Oakland), we wanted to hold up our end."
_A ground ball to short by D.J. LeMahieu against Romo to start the eighth inning that Brandon Crawford fielded deep in the hole, with Belt digging out the ball at first base.
_A chopper near second base by Trevor Story that Grant Green ranged behind the bag to snag, narrowly getting the throw to first base in time. A replay review upheld the call, and Green's play saved a run.
"When you're in a close game like that, defense usually plays a role," manager Bruce Bochy said.
With a two-run cushion, Casilla had a dominant 12-pitch ninth inning for his 20th save with a ground out and a pair of strikeouts.
Romo faced two batters after missing 76 games with a flexor strain in his throwing arm, getting a ground out and surrendering a double to Nolan Arenado.
Bochy will watch Romo closely before reinstating his role as an eighth-inning set-up man, but was encouraged by his first outing. "He looked normal, which is a good sign," Posey said.
Posey is hitting .403 (29-for-72) with 18 runs and 12 RBIs in his last 20 games.
"I feel like I'm hitting the ball consistently hard now, and probably spraying it more than I did a month ago," Posey said.
