NewsLincecum, Giants cruise past Astros
San Francisco ace runs scoreless streak to 23 innings
By Andrew Pentis / MLB.com
07/04/09 8:27 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO -- Tim Lincecum and Russ Ortiz matched one another pitch for pitch through four innings in front of the Independence Day crowd Saturday at AT&T Park. Over the next three innings, Lincecum got better while Ortiz, a former Giant a decade his senior, didn't. Behind seven shutout innings from their ace right-hander, the Giants scored two runs in the fifth and six more in the sixth, sending Ortiz to the showers early and securing a 9-0 win. San Francisco enters Sunday's series finale having outscored its visitor 22-0 (and outhit the Astros 27-7) in the set's first two games. "It's pretty ridiculous what we've been doing," Lincecum said. One could make that argument about the starter's roll, too. With his performance Saturday, Lincecum (9-2) only strengthened his case to start for the National League in the July 14 All-Star Game. All but one member of each league's squad will be revealed Sunday, and the Philadelphia Phillies' manager decides who'll take the ball for the NL squad. "That's Charlie [Manuel's] decision," said Aaron Rowand, a former Phillie. "Obviously Timmy has the numbers." Lincecum ran his scoreless streak to 23 innings -- the longest by a Giant since Robb Nen's 25 2/3 in 2000 -- and has not allowed a runner past second base in his last 18 innings of work. "You just keep feeding off the goose egg, I guess," Lincecum said. Lincecum also whiffed nine batters and has struck out eight or more in five straight starts. But early on Saturday, Ortiz (3-4) looked like an equal match, holding the hot Giants batters to two hits and striking out six through four innings. Against Lincecum, the Astros offense advanced a runner to second base in three of the first four innings but didn't score on each occasion. Slugger Lance Berkman led off the fourth with a double, but Lincecum retired the next three batters on strikes: Carlos Lee swinging on top of a bouncing slider, Geoff Blum tipping a fastball into Bengie Molina's mitt and Hunter Pence helplessly flailing at a curveball while flat-footed. After the double -- one of only three Astros hits for the game -- Lincecum retired eight batters in a row. He said Berkman putting a charge into one of his offerings forced him to "buckle down." Chimed back Berkman, who walked twice as well, "You know you're going to be in for a battle whenever you see you're going to be facing him. Most guys have one and then two pretty good [pitches], but he's got an outstanding changeup, an outstanding curveball and a great fastball. He's got a slider, too, that's pretty nasty to right-handers. He's not just up there flinging the ball plateward." While the Giants lineup didn't match its 15-hit output from Friday night, it came awfully close. Of all the possibilities, a Lincecum walk helped initiate the first offensive rally, which produced two runs in the fifth inning. After a Rowand single and Randy Winn's fielder's choice, Lincecum scored on Pablo Sandoval's RBI single through the right side of the infield. Then Winn scored on a passed ball before Sandoval was thrown out trying to score from second base on Molina's two-out single. Sandoval tore his pant leg and bruised his knee while stumbling at home plate, unable to evade the catcher's tag. "He was a bowling ball coming in there," manager Bruce Bochy remarked. The skipper added that he would huddle with general manager Brian Sabean and the team's athletic trainer after the game to decide if Sandoval's day-to-day ding will require a course of action, which includes the possibility of dipping into the farm system for another infielder. The Giants are down a member on the bench, opting instead to carry a 13-man pitching staff. Lincecum kept the bat on his shoulders again in the sixth and was issued another free pass by Ortiz, loading the bases for Rowand, who singled through the left side for two more Giants runs. In a span of five hitters, Rowand and Winn each collected two-run base hits before Molina doubled home a run and Nate Schierholtz smacked an RBI single. All of it came with two outs already recorded. "We just kept the line moving very well there," Bochy said. "It seemed like everybody did something to get a run in." In his first start against the Giants since he was an Arizona Diamondback in 2006, Ortiz (3-4) left in the Giants' big inning, having allowed eight of San Francisco's runs on nine hits over 5 2/3 innings. His ERA jumped over four, despite the promise of his early work. The Giants added their ninth run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth, and relievers Brandon Medders and Merkin Valdez finished off Lincecum's gem. Recognizing the Giants won't average 11 runs per game -- and that his team is more likely to build on its Major League-leading 11 shutouts -- Rowand put his team's modest two-game streak in perspective. "Like we said in Spring Training, this team is based around its starting pitching," Rowand said. "Scratch and claw [for the offense]."Andrew Pentis is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
