It was a great night to be a fan of the San Francisco Giants as the team welcomed Carlos Beltran to the team, along with the return of Tim Lincecum from a stomach illness. And through a steady drizzle throughout the evening Timmy was in great form, the offense was clicking, and the Giants topped the Phillies 4-1 at Citizen's Bank Park.
Lincecum (W 9-8) threw six innings of scoreless ball against the Phils tonight, allowing only three hits while walking four and striking out six. Only 61 of Timmy's 101 pitches tonight were for strikes, but pitched his way out of his messes every time he got into one.
Pablo Sandoval launched an opposite field homer in the second, his 10th of the year, to start the Giants off right. Nate Schierholtz followed suit with an RBI double in the fourth, then a throwing error from Michael Martinez plated Schierholtz and Chris Stewart in the seventh to give the Giants a 4-0 lead.
Chase Utley struck back in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI double to left field to get Philadelphia on the board, but it was too little too late for the Phils as the Sergio Romo and Brian Wilson shut them down for the last four outs with Wilson earning his MLB leading 33rd save of the season.
Carlos Beltran went 0-4 in his Giants debut with two strikeouts, Aubrey Huff was 1-3 with a double, a walk and a run scored, while Chris Stewart went 1-4 with a run scored.
Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick (L 5-5) took the loss tonight after six and 1/3 innings of work, allowing six hits and four runs along with three walks and four strikeouts. With the loss it marks the first two game losing streak for Philadelphia since June 3-4 against the Pirates.
With the win the Giants move to 61-44 on the year. Full box score can be found here.
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