SF’s Lincecum comes up winner versus Phils

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA

Tim Lincecum shrugged off his pirouette at the plate, ignored the derisive whistles he heard in the batter’s box and did his thing on the mound — where he’s most comfortable.

Lincecum outdueled Roy Halladay, Cody Ross hit a pair of solo homers and the San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 in Game 1 of the NL championship series Saturday night.

In a mega-hyped matchup between marquee pitchers, neither starter came close to matching his sensational postseason debut last week. Both gave up homers to the No. 8 hitters.

Halladay’s bid for a second straight no-hitter lasted until Ross connected with one out in the third.

Lincecum, who tossed a two-hitter, gave up three runs on homers to Jayson Werth and Carlos Ruiz in seven innings.

But the Freak got the big outs when he needed them, and the Giants earned their fourth one-run win in the playoffs. The two-time NL champion Phillies lost their first series opener since getting swept by Colorado in 2007.

Game 2 is Sunday night. Jonathan Sanchez tries to send the Giants back to San Francisco just two wins from their first World Series appearance since 2002. Roy Oswalt goes for the Phillies.

Halladay threw the second no-hitter in postseason history in a 4-0 win over Cincinnati in the opener of the division series. The only runner he allowed was a fifth-inning walk to Jay Bruce.

Pitching on nine days’ rest, Halladay clearly didn’t have the same, dominant stuff. He allowed four runs and eight hits in seven innings.

Lincecum gave way to Javier Lopez, who got two outs in the eighth. All-Star closer Brian Wilson finished with a four-out save.

Ross, a Phillies nemesis, ripped a 2-0 pitch to the seats in left to give the Giants a 2-1 lead in the fifth. He was 3 for 16 off Halladay previously.