San Francisco — It had been nearly three years, two elbow surgeries and a litany of other aches, pains and rehab assignments since Mike Hampton won a major- league game.

So it was understandable if you forgot he used to be a heck of a pitcher.

AP (ENLARGE)

Mike Hampton allowed only four hits, two runs and one walk with two strikeouts, for his first major-league win since Aug. 14, 2005.

BY THE NUMBERS • Box score • Standings • Stats RELATED STORIES Hampton turns down Braves, signs with Astros  Ex-Brave Gant on Hall of Fame ballot  Arbitration deadline not significant for Braves         • More Braves coverage

On an unseasonably cool night hard by San Francisco Bay, Hampton showed he just might be one again.

The left-hander pitched seven crisp innings in an 11-4 win Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park, recording his first decision since 2005 in his third start since a 35-month absence from the majors.

Hampton (1-0) allowed just four hits, two runs and one walk with two strikeouts, and helped his own cause with an RBI double to the base of the center-field wall during a three-run fifth inning.

"It feels great," said Hampton, 35. "The three years of rehab that I've went through has been for this day. ... It'll probably sink in by tomorrow. It's just a good feeling. There was always doubts that I wouldn't get another one. And I don't know if I'll get another one from here. But I've at least got one, and I felt pretty good out there and I hope I can continue to pitch like that."

The Giants scored two runs against reliever Jeff Bennett in the eighth inning to trim the lead to 6-4, but the Braves tacked on five runs in the ninth and pulled away to just their third win in 11 games.

"It's big for the team to get Mike a win," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "It's been a long time. He certainly deserves it. He's been through a lot. They're happy for him. He's always been a team guy."

Hampton finally notched his 139th career win and improved to a personal-best 14-4 in 22 starts against the Giants, a team he hadn't faced since 2003.

The win came nine days from the third anniversary of his last major-league win, against Arizona on Aug. 14, 2005. He left his next start with throbbing pain in his pitching arm, the beginning of what would become an infamous parade of pain.

"There's always been some doubt, with all the stuff I've been through," Hampton said. "With all the health issues, you definitely start doubting a little bit. But I kept pushing and kept working to get to this point one day."

Hampton endured two elbow surgeries — including a ligament transplant —countless hours of rehabilitation and untold levels of public criticism and skepticism before finally pitching in a big league mound again 11 days ago.

Most Braves fans have forgotten that he went 9-0 in a 10-start stretch in 2003, his first season after being traded to Atlanta. And that he was 14-2 with a 2.65 ERA during a stretch of 21 starts from July 4, 2004, to May 8, 2005.

During three years of stories about his surgeries, comebacks, setbacks and repeated mention of the enormous sums he was making while sidelined, Hampton became a lightning rod of criticism as the Braves struggled.

The former 22-game winner is in the final year of an eight-year, $121-million contract he signed with Colorado. No one would let him forget the money angle.

But on Tuesday, all of that was forgotten for a couple of hours while Hampton stood atop the mound and fired sinkers and breaking balls with precision.

"He was the 'Bulldog' Hampton tonight," Cox said. "Tonight he had the super-duper sinker going, and he had the other stuff going along with it. I thought he was outstanding. He was on the attack tonight."

Hampton pitched significantly better than he had in his first two starts back, when he'd given up 10 runs and 15 hits in nine combined innings.

Through the first four innings Tuesday he surrendered only one single and faced one batter over the minimum. He allowed two singles, a run and a walk in the fifth inning, but settled back in and retired the side in the sixth.

The Braves got three consecutive two-out doubles from Kelly Johnson, Hampton and Yunel Escobar in the three-run fifth, and added three runs in the seventh.

But the 6-1 lead that appeared safe began to to shrink in the seventh, when Fred Lewis homered off Hampton in a seven-pitch at-bat to start the inning.

The bullpen took over in the eighth, lately a dicey proposition.

Bennett had another of his recent poor outings, facing five batters and giving up three hits, a walk, a wild pitch and two runs. But Will Ohman and Blaine Boyer bailed him out, each facing a batter and recording a strikeout.