Lincecum wants to win without an ove

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SAN FRANCISCO -- If Tim Lincecum wants to win without an overpowering fastball, he knows he will have to find his way through games when he is nowhere near his best. Buy Adidas Stan Smith Australia . And he was nowhere near his best Friday night. And yet, he still won. Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Hicks homered to back a wildly effective Lincecum, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Minnesota Twins 6-2. "He was bobbing and weaving out there the whole game," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. Lincecum (4-3) struck out four and walked six in six innings. He allowed five hits and also had two wild pitches, escaping trouble in nearly every inning. Only 57 of Lincecums 112 pitches were strikes. "Youve got to battle when you dont have your best stuff, your best command. And today was just that," Lincecum said. "Its kind of an ugly win, but Ill take it. Joe Mauer and Chris Parmelee drove in Minnesotas only runs in the third. Sandoval hit a three-run shot in the first, Hicks hit his eighth homer off Kyle Gibson (4-4) in the fourth and drove in another run on a flyout in the seventh. Gibson gave up five runs and five hits in five innings, working quickly and in command for most of his 72-pitch outing. He struck out four and walked none. "I really got beat on three pitches, which is the frustrating part," Gibson said. San Francisco opened its six-game homestand with some pop at the plate and slick manoeuvring on the mound. Hunter Pence extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an infield single after Angel Pagan doubled leading off the first. Pence was originally ruled out, Bochy challenged the call and umpires overturned it after a 33-second video review. Pagan was thrown out at home on Buster Poseys grounder, but not before third baseman Trevor Plouffes throw pulled Brian Dozier off second on what wouldve been an inning-ending double play. Then, Sandoval sent the first pitch he saw over the brick wall in right to put the Giants ahead 3-0. It was Sandovals fifth home run this season. "I just focused and tried to calm myself down a little bit more," Sandoval said. Mauer hit an RBI triple and Parmelee drove in another run for Minnesota in the third to slice San Franciscos lead to 3-2. In the bottom of the inning, Pagan tripled and scored for San Francisco after shortstop Eduardo Escobar couldnt corral Pences grounder. Despite his lack of command, Lincecum kept the Giants in control. The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner, still searching for consistency as his fastball has faded in recent years, walked two and threw two wild pitches in the third without allowing a run. Sandoval fielded Gibsons grounder at third and threw out Escobar at the plate before Lincecum struck out Dozier to end the inning. In the fifth, Lincecum loaded the bases before getting Escobar to hit a weak groundout to first. Lincecums saved his smoothest inning for his final one, retiring the side in order before leaving to a standing ovation from the announced sellout crowd of 41,514. Left-hander Jeremy Affeldt tossed a scoreless seventh for the Giants. After Javier Lopez allowed two baserunners in the eighth, Jean Machi got pinch-hitter Josmil Pinto to ground into a double-play before pitching a perfect ninth for the save. "We were a little sloppy defensively and we missed plenty of opportunities to get some hits," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "A rough start for us here, and that team over there knows how to take advantage of you." NOTES: The Giants will wait until at least Saturday to decide if RHP Matt Cain, who strained his right hamstring Wednesday at Colorado, will make his next start Monday against the Chicago Cubs. Bochy said Cain "was bouncing around pretty good" in the clubhouse. ... Mauer and Posey, who have each won an MVP at catcher, both started at first base. ... Twins RHP Samuel Deduno (1-2, 3.53 ERA), originally slated to start Sunday, will take the mound on Saturday. Ricky Nolasco will pitch Sunday. ... Ryan Vogelsong (2-2, 3.62) goes for the Giants on Saturday and lefty Madison Bumgarner starts Sunday. Adidas Stan Smith Australia Sale .Do you have to be that close? Federer snapped at a TV cameraman hovering nearby as he received medical advice after losing a set on Wednesday.For Nadal and Sharapova, the nuisance was coming from the lowly-ranked qualifiers across the net. Adidas Stan Smith Australia .Y. -- Mike Zigomaniss goal at 5:53 of the third period stood up as the winner as the Rochester Americans hung on to defeat the visiting Hamilton Bulldogs 3-2 on Saturday in American Hockey League action. http://www.cheapstansmithaustralia.com/ .J. - Henrik Lundqvist has done more than set a couple of franchise records for the New York Rangers this week.LOS ANGELES -- Francisco Liriano finally got that long-awaited first victory of the season. Liriano pitched in and out of trouble in his duel with Josh Beckett, and Ike Davis homered to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 Friday night. Liriano (1-5) scattered five hits over 5 2-3 scoreless innings. After entering with a 5.06 ERA, he struck out eight and walked two in his 12th start of the year. "It was a great feeling to get that first win out of the way," said Liriano, a 16-game winner for Pittsburgh last season. "It was a long time, and I felt like I wasnt doing my job. I just want to try to go deeper into the game my next time out." Beckett (3-2) allowed two runs and five hits in five innings, five days after pitching the first no-hitter in the majors this season during a 6-0 win at Philadelphia. Yasiel Puig reached base for the 31st straight game, getting an infield single in the fourth and continuing to second on Lirianos throwing error. He came up with the bases loaded in the fifth and popped up on a changeup for the third out, making him 0 for 5 in those situations. "Francisco pitched out of the stretch most of the night, and the leadoff hitter reached base in five of those six innings," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle pointed out. "To get Puig, thats just a classic matchup on a Friday night in front of 47,000 -- thats good stuff. There were so many important pitches in that sequence, but he stayed focused and was aggressive. He had eight strikeouts, and a lot of them were with guys on second." Despite Lirianos record, hes been able to keep his team in games more often than not. The Pirates have won all six of his no-decisions. "Thats what we continue to tell Frank," Hurdle said. "Fortunately, hes been around. Hes had to battle through so many things, and this is just the next thing hes going to get challenged by at the major league level. Hes kept his composure and his confidence, so well see where he can take it. I just believe its going to get better and better for him." Beckett was removed for a pinch-hitter after 88 pitches -- the 34-year-old righty threw a career-high 128 in the first no-hitter by a Dodgers pitcher since 1996. "Physically, I felt fine. I took care of myself in between starts, and I was ready to go out there," Beckett said. "I didnt feel any different between this start and my last one. I mean, if you look aat those 128 pitches in nine innings, its only 13, 14 pitches per inning. Adidas Stan Smith Clearance. " Pirates second baseman Neil Walker robbed Matt Kemp of an RBI single in the sixth with a diving stop toward the middle and threw him out, after Hanley Ramirez led off with a double. Liriano faced one more batter, striking out Scott Van Slyke with his 100th pitch. Justin Wilson then fanned Andre Ethier. Mark Melancon gave up an RBI single to Ramirez in the eighth, but retired pinch-hitter Adrian Gonzalez on a grounder with the potential tying run at second. Jason Grilli pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save. Beckett retired the side in order only once. He hit Starling Marte with a 2-2 pitch to open the third and Clint Barmes followed with a walk. Marte was picked off second, but the Pirates overcame that miscue with singles by Josh Harrison and Walker, whose hit to right field drove in Barmes with the games first run. Davis led off the fourth with a drive to centre that travelled an estimated 453 feet. It was his fourth home run of the season, including two grand slams against Cincinnati. "Beckett was on the corners all night and his stuff was good, but that fastball caught a little more of the plate and I was able to get the good part of the bat on it," Davis said. "We really didnt do too much off him, but we scored just enough runs. Its hard to beat the Dodgers only scoring two runs, but our pitchers were amazing tonight." Drew Butera, who caught Becketts no-hitter, also was behind the plate for Lirianos no-no with Minnesota on May 3, 2011, against the White Sox in Chicago. He threw out Russell Martin and Harrison on stolen base attempts for the third out in the second and fifth innings, respectively. NOTES: It was the 19th time since 1900 that a pitcher made his first start following a no-hitter against an opponent who also had pitched one. The last time that happened was May 7, 2012, when Jered Weaver of the Angels faced Liriano and beat Minnesota for the second time in five days, 8-3. ... Dee Gordon stole two more bases to raise his major league-leading total to 34, and the Dodgers total to 64 -- also tops in the majors. ... Pirates LHP Tony Watson extended his scoreless streak to 15 2-3 innings with a perfect seventh. ... Cincinnati LHP Johnny Vander Meer (1938) remains the only pitcher to throw no-hitters in consecutive starts. ' ' '