Tim Lincecum Evens Record as San Francisco Giants Extend NL West Lead

By: Michael Manbert

Tim Lincecum was masterful in San Francisco Saturday night as the Giants defeated the Mets 3-1 in front of yet another sellout crowd at AT&T Park.

Despite again being backed by a weak offensive performance, Lincecum threw six innings of four-hit, one-run ball as he fanned six. In doing so, he evens his record to 7-7. In what has been a recurring theme for the San Francisco rotation and bullpen alike this season, The Freak’s .500 record does little justice to his ERA (which he saw drop to a phenomenal 3.04 after Saturday night’s start).

The Mets would take an early lead as Carlos Beltran scored on a Daniel Murphy double in the first but would be held to just two more hits for the remainder of the contest.

The Giants would immediately answer in their half of the first as Nate Schierholtz had an RBI single, and Aubrey Huff drove in Pablo Sandoval on a fielder’s choice.

Sandoval, who extended his hit streak to a career-high 20 games Saturday night, drove in the Giants’ third and final run on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the seventh.

Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo combined for two scoreless innings to close the game as Brian Wilson was given the night off.

Final Score? Giants – 3, Mets – 1.

Worth noting—The Arizona Diamondbacks lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 6-7 Saturday night, and the Giants saw their NL West lead increase to two games as their record improved to 51-40 on the season.

Michael Manbert is a reporter for SFGiantsInsider.com.