"Matt Cain the warhorse. Matt Cain the bulldog. See something else in the menagerie you like? Pick that, too.

Cain has the stuff, the temperament and the stone-cold eyes of a pitcher who could keep sawing off bats deep into October. And in one of the biggest turning-point games of the Giants' season, Cain pitched like an absolute beast to get them one step closer to the playoffs.

The laconic kid from Tennessee got within five outs of the second no-hitter in Coors Field history but settled for a complete game while hammering a pine box for the dangerous Colorado Rockies in a 4-2 victory Sunday afternoon.

The Giants enter the final week of the season as a first-place team once again, a half-game in front of the San Diego Padres. It's the fourth lead change in five days atop the wild, wild NL West.

The Giants stand there because of a 43-38 record away from AT&T Park -- their first winning mark on the road since 2004 -- and a 4-2 trip that included a series victory in their most hostile venue.

"I've been here a lot. I know how leads can evaporate," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "But we had the right guy out there. He was a bulldog and he did all he could to get this done."

Freddy Sanchez played despite an ailing shoulder and hit a two-run home run in the first inning, and Cain held the Rockies hitless until the eighth. With one out, shortstop Juan Uribe double-clutched after fielding Jay Payton's infield single. "