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SAN FRANCISCO(AP)
Tim Lincecum
kept tabs on heralded rookie
Vin Mazzaro
all right, despite the reigning Cy Young Award winner's insistence that he's facing the other lineup and not the other pitcher.
''He had a no-hitter, perfect game through the first three. It looked like a tough day for us,'' Lincecum said.
Lincecum just got tougher.
The hard-throwing right-hander pitched a seven-hitter for his third career complete game and first this season, and the
San Francisco Giants
beat the
Oakland Athletics
3-0 on Friday night to win the first meeting of the Bay Bridge Series.
Lincecum (6-1), who also drove in his third run of the year, struck out eight and walked one to win his sixth straight decision
dating to his only loss of 2009 on April 12 at San Diego.
''He did it all tonight. He had the big hit there for us, pitched well,'' Giants manager
Bruce Bochy
said. ''We say enough things about him but tonight he was special.''
It was the Giants' seventh shutout of the year and Lincecum's second career shutout. He also had one last Sept. 13 in a 7-0
victory at San Diego.
Lincecum regularly pumped his fist and looked as strong in the late innings as he did at the start.
''It was just big pitches and big outs when we needed them,'' he said of the emotion he exuded.
San Francisco won its third straight against the A's and ended a seven-game home losing streak to Oakland with its first victory
in the series in the Giants' waterfront ballpark since June 24, 2006. The A's swept a three-game series in San Francisco last
year.
Lincecum singled in the first career run allowed by Mazzaro (2-1) in the fifth inning and won this impressive pitcher's duel.
Aaron Rowand
followed Lincecum's hit with a two-run single.
Lincecum struck out
Matt Holliday
to finish the eighth, then fanned former Giant
Rajai Davis
to end the Giants' seventh shutout of 2009 in a speedy 2 hours, 2 minutes - and on an efficient 110 pitches. Oakland was blanked
for the fifth time this season.
''His fastball was at 95 in the ninth inning. That speaks for itself,'' A's manager
Bob Geren
said. ''He had everything working.''
Mazzaro wasn't bad himself.
He didn't allow a hit until
Pablo Sandoval
's leadoff bunt single in the fifth and pitched 17 2-3 scoreless innings to start his career.
''I wasn't expecting him to bunt. It was a good one though,'' Mazzaro said. ''You have to expect anything from anybody.''
After Mazzaro received a mound visit from pitching coach
Curt Young
, Lincecum stepped in with the bases loaded and punched a single to shallow left-center.
Mazzaro retired the first 11 batters he faced Friday before
Randy Winn
reached on third baseman
Jack Hannahan
's error in the fourth. Hannahan scooped up Winn's grounder, but first baseman
Jason Giambi
couldn't field the low throw. That snapped a 72-game errorless streak by Hannahan dating to Aug. 10, 2008, the longest in
Oakland history by a third baseman.
Mazzaro, one of four rookies in Oakland's inexperienced rotation, allowed six hits in six innings, struck out four and walked
one. None of Oakland's starters had a major league at-bat entering interleague play.
Giambi went 0 for 4 for Oakland, seeing his batting average drop to .212 - his lowest at this stage of the season since he
was hitting .182 in only four games played as a rookie in 1995.
Two Oakland fans were dressed in full uniforms, with wigs and sunglasses, imitating
Mark McGwire
and
Jose Canseco
and carrying a replica of the World Series trophy.
Notes: The A's activated INF
Nomar Garciaparra
from his second stint on the 15-day disabled list and he had a pinch-hit single in the seventh. Oakland optioned OF
Aaron Cunningham
to Triple-A Sacramento to clear room on the roster. ... A's C
Kurt Suzuki
didn't start in consecutive games for the first time this season. He fouled a ball off his left knee during a pinch-hit appearance
Thursday against the Twins. ... The Giants held a reunion for their team from the 1989 World Series - interrupted for 10 days
by an earthquake - that was swept by the A's and 25 players took part in Friday's festivities. Oakland plans a similar get-together
June 23 when the Giants play at the Coliseum.
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