A sellout crowd that stood and howled in appreciation for Ryan Vogelsong should know about the lump in his throat. He had just finished the best game of his 14-year pro career and was being rewarded in dream fashion.

That ovation, Vogelsong said, "was the best experience I ever had in baseball, to be honest with you," and the emotional high from a 3-0 victory against Colorado on Sunday that completed the Giants' first series sweep of 2011.

"It was awesome, just the whole day in general, my first start here as a Giant and pitching like that, and the fans recognizing how well I pitched and the journey I've been on."

It began in 1998, when the Giants drafted Vogelsong. Their future home was a hole in the ground at Third and King streets with some piles driven into the earth, two years from opening. When he finally won at China Basin in a Giants uniform, it was worth the wait.

This 33-year-old had a perfect game until Chris Iannetta's clean leadoff single in the sixth.

That was the only hit against Vogelsong before he got his walk-off ovation in the seventh. Javier Lopez and Brian Wilson completed the three-hitter.

Wilson earned wins in the first two games of the series, both settled by a final swing of the bat. He collected his 11th save in a relatively stress-free game.

"A three-run lead, that's a laugher around here," manager Bruce Bochy said. "Even though it counted as a save, it felt like a 10-run lead."

Ten-run leads are rare here. Any lead is rare against Jorge De La Rosa, who has feasted on the Giants since becoming a Rockie in 2008. He was 7-1 before Sunday's start. Throw away a six-run effort in a 14-11 Coors Field special, and De La Rosa held the Giants to a 1.48 ERA in the nine other starts.

The Giants' one sustained slump this season, eight losses in 11 games, began when De La Rosa stifled them in Colorado on April 20. Beating De La Rosa for their fifth win in six games might portend a sustained roll.

They Giants had only four hits in six innings against De La Rosa, but two were huge. Both came from Cody Ross, who drove in all three runs. He followed a Pat Burrell double in the fourth with a single that broke the scoreless tie. With two outs in the sixth, and Buster Posey at first, Ross concluded a nine-pitch at-bat with his first home run of the year.

After a basket catch on a foul fly in the seventh, Ross heard a familiar serenade from many of the 42,132 fans.

"It's been a long time since I heard the 'Cody!' chant," he said, recognizing he had not given them much reason to use it.

Ross was 9-for-45 for the year before his double started the winning rally Friday. His season began April 20 with an 0-for-4 against De La Rosa and the Rockies. The Giants need Ross to get going, just as they do as a team.

"The sweep was huge, especially against the team that's ahead of us," Ross said. He complimented Vogelsong for throwing an "amazing game" and added, "We played really well the whole series against these guys. Walk-off wins are huge. They can be uplifting and put the other team into a funk. Then to sweep. It can snowball for us."