DENVER -- Kevin Pillar made a big impression in his second game in Purple Pinstripes, as he leaped and smashed his head, right shoulder, chest and right hip into the center-field wall at Coors Field to end the seventh inning Wednesday afternoon. But he held tight and got up.

The same could be said about the Rockies, who rose from the canvas and punched the Giants back, 9-6, in comeback fashion, after absorbing an 18-run defeat Tuesday night.

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The victory -- just the fourth in the Rockies' past 14 home games -- came less than 24 hours after a 23-5 loss Tuesday night. They started Wednesday not only out of the National League playoff picture, but down four runs before their first trip to the plate and down 6-1 after 4 1/2 innings.

And Pillar, who put Colorado ahead with a two-run triple in a five-run bottom of the seventh, is happy to be in the Rockies' corner as they head out on a road trip that could make or break their season.

"These guys have been the best I've ever seen," said Pillar, who was obtained from the Red Sox on Monday. "It's allowed me, a new guy who naturally is, you know, trying to have this moment where he feels like he belongs -- feel like I've arrived. Not that they put that pressure on me. They've embraced me with open arms."

The Rockies started this 60-game schedule 11-3, but they now find themselves one game below .500 (18-19). On Friday, they begin a six-game road trip, three each against the Dodgers and the Padres -- the very NL West rivals that over the past two weeks have pushed Colorado's postseason hopes into uncertainty. The Rockies were swept at Dodger Stadium Aug. 21-23 and dropped three of four at home to the Padres in an injurious weekend series.

A strong performance on a tough trip would be the Rockies doing a figurative imitation of Pillar -- running into a solid wall -- but rising and persevering.

"This was a good one, coming on the heels of what happened yesterday," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "Let's hope so. … Only time will tell, but this was a good one. It really was."

The Rockies, beneficiaries also of a second-inning leadoff homer from Garrett Hampson (his third in two days) and a two-run shot from rookie Sam Hilliard immediately after Pillar's triple, needed to pack all the good feeling they could fit for this road trip. They've dropped 16 of their last 17 at Dodger Stadium, and they are coming off a 2-4 homestand.

"We get together as a group and it's like, 'Hey, guys, we're way too good to be not performing, to be performing the way we are,'" said Hilliard, whose homer was his fifth this season. "We know what type of talent we have, what we're capable of doing, and we showed it at the end of the game."

A hard-luck run of starting pitching continued Wednesday. Kyle Freeland gave up eight hits and four runs in two innings, although Black noted "there had to be a foul ball record today." But Chi Chi González allowed two runs (one earned) in two innings and Ryan Castellani's two scoreless innings provided a reprieve. Castellani was scheduled to start Saturday at Los Angeles, but Germán Márquez will move up a day on regular rest and either Castellani or Gonzalez will start Sunday.

Both Trade Deadline pickups helped. Righty reliever Mychal Givens entered in the seventh with a 6-4 deficit. He hit a batter and struck out one in a scoreless frame, and he was on the mound when Pillar -- who said more experience at Coors would have made the catch not so awkward -- tracked down Evan Longoria's drive that carried almost cartoonishly to the center-field wall.

If carryovers do exist, the Rockies hope the bottom of the seventh will accompany them out west. It featured solid plate appearances by Trevor Story (a walk), Nolan Arenado (a single over the head of left fielder Mike Yastzremski) and Charlie Blackmon (an RBI double) -- until then known as Colorado's struggling star players.

"The core of our lineup -- Nolan, Trevor and Charlie -- have been that way for a few years," Black said. "Those guys come up big when needed. It's been a little bit of a scuffle for the whole group over the last couple of weeks, but they're always in the mix when something good happens.

"We need everybody, but obviously the big boys gotta do their thing, too."

The new guy believes he has landed on a team that believes it will come together. Pillar felt it before his score-flipping triple off Giants submarining righty Tyler Rogers.

"I fall down 0-2, and the first pitch I check-swing and I just hear guys constantly in the dugout, words of encouragement," Pillar said. "'Love the aggression. … Keep fighting.' It's encouraging and it's something I've never been a part of.

"It starts with our mindset and the positive energy that's coming from each and every one in that dugout."