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The Leading Logic In Sports Handicapping |
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By Ryan Leong
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Tim Lincecum is living up to his
nickname of "Franchise."
Lincecum tossed eight impressive innings and Jose Castillo went
4-for-4 and scored three runs as the San Francisco Giants halted
a five-game losing streak Saturday with an 8-2 triumph over the
Philadelphia Phillies.
Lincecum (5-1) limited the Phillies to two runs and four hits in
his longest outing of the season. The 23-year-old righthander
struck out eight while walking just one.
Former Phillie Aaron Rowand, Randy Winn and Omar Vizquel - in
his season debut - collected three hits apiece and Dan Ortmeier
drove in a pair of runs for San Francisco, which recorded 15
hits. Rowand and Winn each belted a solo home run.
"We got contributions throughout the lineup," Giants manager
Bruce Bochy said. "Omar, it was nice to see him out there, and
what a game he had. The back end of the order did some good
things, too. Rowand and Castillo had big days, and that is what
we need. We put together a great ballgame today. We executed
and pitched well."
Ryan Howard and Chris Coste homered for Philadelphia, which lost
for the third time in five games.
Lincecum, the Giants' first-round pick in 2006, is emerging as
the staff ace. He struck out the side in the first inning
Saturday and retired nine straight batters following Howard's
leadoff homer in the second.
"Today everything felt good," Lincecum said. "My changeup was
good when I needed it to be, and my curveball was there when I
needed it to be also. I didn't throw too many sliders, but I
just felt like I had a knack for things going. It was one of
those days where everything fell into place."
After Geoff Jenkins' single in the fifth, Lincecum set down
another 10 in a row before Coste's one-out solo shot in the
eighth.
Howard's seventh blast of the season in the second gave
Philadelphia a 1-0 lead, but the Giants moved ahead for good in
the bottom of the inning. Rowand launched a leadoff shot into
the bleachers in left-center field and Lincecum helped his own
cause with an RBI single later in the frame.
"We need to score more than 3.5 runs a game or whatever it is
that I saw the other day to win a lot of ballgames," Rowand
said. "Even with a good pitching staff that we have, we need to
be able to score some more runs. Everybody's battling and
we're just going to try to move forward."
San Francisco opened up the game in the third, scoring three
runs to take a 5-1 lead. Singles by Winn, Rowand and Castillo
loaded the bases before Emmanuel Burriss lifted a sacrifice fly.
Ortmeier followed with a double to right, plating two.
The Giants added a run in each of the next three innings. Winn
hit his first homer of the season in the fourth before Castillo
scored on an error in the fifth and delivered an RBI single in
the sixth.
"I felt pretty good," Castillo said. "Everybody was working
good. I waited for my pitch and I'm happy for the win, for me
and for the team. (Jamie Moyer) is a good pitcher. He pitches
slow, but I waited for the changeup for the best pitch to hit."
Moyer (2-3) lasted four innings for the Phillies, surrendering
six runs and nine hits.
"He threw a lot of pitches and they were hitting him pretty
good," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "The veteran
hitters, they've been around, and they were patient with him.
They didn't chase balls out of the strike zone and made him
bring the ball up.
"Jamie's going to have a game like today. He has some of those
games. He usually gives up about three or four runs, and every
now and then, you'll see some teams beat up on him a little bit,
and he always bounces back. Today just wasn't a good day for
him."
The lefthanded Moyer walked one and struck out one in losing for
the third time in four decisions.
"My day wrapped around not making pitches deeper into counts,"
Moyer said. "In essence, I stunk today. I got what I
deserved."
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