Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Alex Gonzalez and Eric Hinske homered off Giants ace Tim Lincecum and the Braves defeated San Francisco, 3-2, to kick off a four-game set between these playoff hopefuls.
Jair Jurrjens (4-4) went six innings and yielded two runs on seven hits and three walks to remain undefeated at home this year at 4-0 in six starts.
Gonzalez's two-run shot was his second homer as a Brave and 19th of the season, while Hinske put a solo shot just over the wall in right in the sixth to serve as the game-winner for Atlanta, which was coming off taking two of three from the Mets and improved its MLB-leading home record to 37-14.
Tim Lincecum (11-5) fanned seven in 6 1/3 innings, but was bitten by the longball in allowing three runs on six total hits while walking three. He had been 3-0 over his last five starts since a personal two-game slide.
Andres Torres had three hits and knocked in a run for San Francisco, which had a four-game winning streak snapped Wednesday with a loss to Colorado.
An RBI groundout by Aubrey Huff in the first and Torres' double to plate Aaron Rowand an inning later had the Giants out to an early 2-0 lead.
Gonzalez tied it up with one swing, though, taking Lincecum deep to left after Rick Ankiel walked to begin the bottom of the second.
Things remained locked at 2-2 until Hinske muscled a 2-1 changeup out to right that just cleared the wall to give Atlanta a slim lead. From there it was up to the bullpen, which sported three nearly spotless innings to lock down the win.
Jonny Venters and Takashi Saito worked an inning each to bridge the gap to closer Billy Wagner, who notched his 26th save by getting Freddy Sanchez swinging to end the game after Torres got on with a two-out single in the ninth.
Giants rookie catcher Buster Posey, who returned to his native Georgia for the first time as a professional Thursday, was named the National League's Player of the Month on Wednesday after hitting .417 with seven homers and 24 RBI in July, a month that also included a near Giants rookie-record 21-game hitting streak. He was 0-for-4 in Thursday's game...Lincecum dropped to 6-2 lifetime versus Atlanta, which he beat on April 11 after allowing just two runs with 10 strikeouts over seven innings...The Giants took two of three at home from the Braves in April and have still won eight of the last 13 meetings, though they did lose three of four at Turner Field a season ago.