Giants 2, Padres 0
SAN FRANCISCO -- Tim Lincecum pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning and Pablo Sandoval gave him all the run support he needed with a two-run homer as the San Francisco Giants made it two in a row over the San Diego Padres with a 2-0 victory on Saturday night.
Working with catcher Buster Posey for the first time this season, Lincecum (2-0) struck out eight and walked two in 6 2/3 innings, surrendering just four hits, all singles.
In running his career record to 11-5 against the Padres, Lincecum left the bases loaded in the third inning by getting Chase Headley to ground out to second base, then got Headley on a strikeout and Yonder Alonso on a grounder to first with a runner on second in the fifth.
Pitching into the seventh for the first time this season, Lincecum had to be rescued by left-hander Jose Mijares after walking .188-hitting catcher John Baker with two outs, advancing Jesus Guzman to second and putting the potential tying runs on base. Mijares got lefty pinch-hitter Mark Kotsay to fly to medium-deep right field to end the threat.
Santiago Casilla and Sergio Romo completed the shutout. Casilla got Alonso to hit into an inning-ending double play with two runners aboard in the eighth. Romo pitched a hitless ninth for his eighth save.
Despite getting outhit 5-3, the Giants won for the fourth consecutive time in Lincecum starts this season and this time didn't need the 5.3 runs of support with which he'd been given on average the first three times out. In fact, the Giants had only two hits while Lincecum was in the game, but one of them was a difference-maker.
The switch-hitting Sandoval turned on an inside fastball by Padres emergency starter Andrew Cashner (0-1) in the fourth for his third home run of the season. The blast scored Angel Pagan ahead of him and increased Sandoval's team-leading RBI total to 16.
Sandoval left the game after striking out in the bottom of the seventh, an at-bat during which he fouled a ball off his right shin. Joaquin Arias replaced him at third base.
Cashner pitched well in place of Clayton Richard, who was scratched with flu-like symptoms. Other than the home run, the Giants' only other hit off the right-hander in four innings was a single by Posey.
Everth Cabrera had two of the Padres' five hits, including a double.
Sandoval's home run came three pitches after he appeared to give the Giants a 1-0 lead with a flare down the left-field line that eluded a diving Jesus Guzman. But the ball landed just foul, sending Angel Pagan temporarily back to second base.
Pagan had walked to start the inning and advanced into scoring position on a Marco Scutaro grounder to the right side.
The home run was one of two hits allowed by Cashner, who struck out five and walked one in four innings. He was pulled after throwing 65 pitches.
The Padres were one ball from giving Cashner an early lead when Lincecum went to a 3-and-1 count on Headley with the bases loaded in the third. But San Diego's No. 3 hitter could do no more than fist an inside fastball on the ground to Scutaro at second base to end the threat.
NOTES: Pagan, the hero of Friday's 3-2 series-opening win over the Padres, began the day tops in the National League in game-winning RBI with five. ... Jason Marquis, one of the Padres' starting pitchers, pinch-hit for Cashner in the fifth. He struck out. ... The Padres took a double-hit with their starting pitching on Saturday. Not only was Richard unable to start, but Tyson Ross had to be placed on the disabled list with pain in his left (non-throwing) shoulder. ... Richard is a candidate to be moved up two days in the Padres' starting rotation next week to take Ross' spot on Tuesday against Milwaukee. ... Regular Padres center fielder Cameron Maybin took a cortisone shot in his injured right wrist on Friday. It's hoped that the injection will aid his rehab. He's aiming to come off the disabled list the first week of May.
