San Diego, CA (Sports Network) - Tim Lincecum pitched seven effective innings, and the San Francisco Giants pulled into a virtual tie with the San Diego Padres atop the NL West standings after a 6-1 win to finish a four-game series at PETCO Park.
Tim Lincecum, Giants Roll Over Padres To Knot Up NL West
Lincecum (14-9), who endured a five-game losing streak in August, won his third straight start to begin September. The two-time defending NL Cy Young Award winner allowed just one run, seven hits and a walk while fanning nine to move atop the NL strikeout list with 208.
“We have a team that’s rolling right now behind me and scoring runs,” said Lincecum. “The confidence is at an all-time high right now for this season coming off the month that I had.”
Buster Posey hit a two-run homer, while Lincecum added a two-run single for the Giants, winners in seven of nine and three of four in this series.
“We fought hard the whole trip,” said San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy. “We had three series’ in three tough cities and it’s a credit to all our guys.”
Mat Latos (14-6) had a rare bad outing for the Padres, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks in just four innings. Latos had given up two or fewer runs for 15 straight starts, a major league record. He hadn't allowed more than three for 22 straight outings, dating back to a loss to Florida on April 26.
David Eckstein hit an RBI single for San Diego, which is 4-13 in its last 17 games.
“We’re not scoring enough runs and we’re not making some pitches when we need to,” said San Diego manager Bud Black. “That’s what we have to do, we have to get back to making the pitches and making the plays.”
Latos looked to be off to a good start, striking out the first two batters of the game, but Aubrey Huff kept the inning alive with a single, and Posey followed him with a blast over the right-field wall for a 2-0 Giants lead.
Huff and Posey hit consecutive one-out singles in the third, and Jose Guillen's sacrifice fly made it a three-run game.
Pablo Sandoval walked leading off the top of the fourth, and Juan Uribe doubled him over to third. Lincecum helped himself with a two-run single to left for a five-run cushion.
Meanwhile, Lincecum opened his start with five consecutive scoreless innings, but Will Venable began the bottom of the fifth with a triple, eventually scoring on Eckstein's two-out single for a 5-1 contest.
Cody Ross scored on an error in the eighth to account for the final margin, as Lincecum and the Giants' bullpen shut down the Padres' offense.
Lincecum is the fourth pitcher in Giants history to have three or more straight seasons of 200 or more strikeouts. The last to do it was Juan Marichal from 1963-66...The Padres still lead the season series, 10-5, although the Giants have won five of the last eight...The Rockies, who have won 10 straight games, are 1 1/2 games behind both San Diego and San Francisco.
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