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Sizzling Giants hold on to sweep Mets

AT&T PARK — It looked like bad Timmy came out to play for Sunday afternoon’s game.

San Francisco Giants starter Tim Lincecum pitches during the top of the first inning against the New York Mets at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday, June 8, 2014. (Ali Thanawalla/SFBay)
New York Mets center fielder Matt den Dekker steals second base during the top of the first inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday, June 8, 2014. (Ali Thanawalla/SFBay)
New York Mets center fielder Matt den Dekker is tagged out by Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval while trying to steal third base in the top of the first inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday, June 8, 2014. (Ali Thanawalla/SFBay)more
Gregor Blanco watches as fans reach for the home run ball off the bat of New York Mets right fielder Curtis Granderson at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday, June 8, 2014. (Ali Thanawalla/SFBay)
New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy (left) appears to tell pitcher Zack Wheeler to make sure he looks the runner back to second base at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday, June 8, 2014. (Ali Thanawalla/SFBay)more
San Francisco Giants right fielder Hunter Pence runs to third base during the bottom of the second inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday, June 8, 2014. (Ali Thanawalla/SFBay)
San Francisco Giants left fielder Tyler Colvin slides into third base during the bottom of the second inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday, June 8, 2014. (Ali Thanawalla/SFBay)
Tyler Colvin congratulates Brandon Crawford after scoring on a double by Gregor Blanco in the bottom of the second inning. (Ali Thanawalla/ SFBay)
San Francisco Giants center field Gregor Blanco (7) is tagged out while trying to stretch a double into a triple in the bottom of the second inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday, June 8, 2014. (Ali Thanawalla/SFBay)more
San Francisco Giants starter walks to the dugout after recording the final out of the top of the sixth inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday, June 8, 2014. (Ali Thanawalla/SFBay)
San Francisco Giants Giants infielder Ehire Adrianza gets ready to high-five Pablo Sandoval after scoring a run in the bottom of the seventh inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday, June 8, 2014. (Ali Thanawalla/SFBay)more
New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy slides in safely following a Jean Machi wild pitch in the top of the eighth inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday, June 8, 2014. (Ali Thanawalla/SFBay)more
Brandon Crawford rounds third base and heads for home on a Brandon Hicks' single to center field at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday, June 8, 2014. (Ali Thanawalla/SFBay)
Closer Sergio Romo celebrates after recording the save in the San Francisco Giants' 6-4 win over the New York Mets at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday, June 8, 2014. (Ali Thanawalla/SFBay)
The San Francisco Giants celebrate after their 6-4 win over the New York Mets on Sunday at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday, June 8, 2014. (Ali Thanawalla/SFBay)

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.

Notes

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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Last modified June 10, 2014 12:35 am

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