SAN FRANCISCO -- Seconds after Tim Lincecum tumbled to the ground while covering first base to end the fourth inning, the lone bit of uncertainty for the Giants on Friday night subsided, as he popped back to his feet. Totally healthy, he smiled.
Walking back to the dugout, Lincecum and Brandon Belt laughed while watching the replay on the scoreboard. So went Friday night for the Giants: not much concern and plenty of smiles, as they cruised to a 5-0 victory against the D-backs at AT&T Park.
 
Lincecum stays sharp, Giants blank D'backs 5-0
 
Lincecum was masterful -- again -- in seven shutout innings on the mound en route to his fourth consecutive win. Michael Morse, Joe Panik and Hector Sanchez impressed defensively. The bats did what the bats were supposed to do against a pitcher with a 5.13 ERA through nine starts. They didn't waste much time, either.
Belt singled in the first and scored one batter later when Pablo Sandoval destroyed a baseball, which landed atop Levi's Landing in a hurry, for a two-run home run. Three batters, two runs.
They didn't maintain that torrid pace throughout the night, but the offense produced more than what'd become the norm lately. A Brandon Crawford single to right scored Tyler Colvin in the second, and one batter later, Lincecum and Panik (at third base) successfully executed a safety squeeze to push the lead to 4-0. A Sandoval double to left scored Hunter Pence to extend the lead to 5-0 in the fifth.
That was plenty of support for Lincecum, who again looked like a pitcher who's completed the transition from power pitcher to finesse pitcher and perfected his altered craft. In his last four starts, he's allowed just one earned run in 30 1/3 innings. He's thrown a career-high 27 consecutive scoreless innings at AT&T Park, which is the Giants' longest stretch since Ryan Jensen also tossed 27 unblemished innings in a row at home in 2002.
Arizona starter Mike Bolsinger was chased from the game after five innings. He allowed five earned runs on eight hits. The win improved the Giants to 32-4 when scoring five or more runs this season.
Ryan Hood / MLB.com
 

Comments are closed.