AT&T PARK — It looked like bad Timmy came out to play Sunday afternoon. 
Gallery Giants-Mets.
AT&T PARK — It looked like bad Timmy came out to play for Sunday afternoon’s game.
Photos by Ali Thanawalla/SFBay
After a shaky two-run first inning, Tim Lincecum (W, 5-4, 4.97 ERA) settled in and beat the New York Mets to complete the sweep 6-4.
Lincecum’s only blemishes were two home runs by Curtis Granderson. One was a two-run shot in the first inning and the other a monstrous splash hit into McCovey Cove in the sixth inning. The homers where Granderson’s seventh and eighth of the season.
Lincecum admitted that he thought Granderson would be taking on his 3-0, 90 mph fastball down the middle of the plate in the first inning:
“That was my fault. … I did the same thing to Duda and got a ground-ball double play. It’s all about the location of that pitch.”
Manager Bruce Bochy saw a sharper Lincecum than in his last outing in Cincinnati:
“The first inning, it got a little rough there. … He gave us six solid innings and it was good to see how he bounced back. Good stuff, better command and pitched more efficiently.”
The Giants’ big inning came in the second when they put up three runs.
Hector Sanchez, Tyler Colvin and Brandon Crawford singled consecutively to lead-off the inning. With two outs, Gregor Blanco drove in two, but ended the inning trying to stretch his double into a triple.
Blanco blamed the base running mistake on morning coffee:
“I should have just stayed at second base. I guess the coffee in the morning made me want to go to third.”
The Giants ran into problems in the eighth inning when Daniel Murphy and Granderson notched consecutive two-out hits to put themselves on second and third base.
After Jean Machi surrendered one of Jeremy Affeldt’s runners on a wild pitch, he got Chris Young to fly out and maintain a 5-4 lead.
Former Giants pitching prospect Zack Wheeler (L, 2-6, 4.19 ERA) struggled with his command all day. Wheeler only lasted 3-2/3 innings and issued six hits, four earned runs, two walks and a wild pitch while striking out six.
San Francisco tacked on a fourth run in the third inning when Michael Morse grounded into a double play to score Hunter Pence and make it 4-2.
After Granderson’s second home run made it 4-3, Blanco knocked in Ehire Adrianza in the seventh with an RBI single to make it 5-3. Blanco finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
Brandon Hicks struggled at the plate in his first three at-bats, looking at-risk for the dreaded golden sombrero. But he came through with much-needed insurance in the eighth inning, plating Crawford with an RBI single to make it 6-4.
Javier Lopez came for the ninth inning and promptly walked the first batter, Lucas Duda. Sergio Romo came in and retired the next three batters to earn his 20th save of the season.
Having won 14 of their last 17 games, the Giants will look to continue their winning ways when the Washington Nationals come to town. Ryan Vogelsong (4-2, 3.39 ERA) will take on righty Stephen Strasburg (5-4, 3.10 ERA) Monday night. First pitch is 7:15 p.m.
Tim Lincecum is 6-0 with a 1.72 ERA in his last seven starts against the Mets. … The Giants scored another three runs with two outs to increase their major league lead in that category to 128 this season. … The Giants improved to 18-6 in day games this season, which is the best in the National League. The Giants’ 42-21 overall record is best in the majors.
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