MercuryNews
PHILADELPHIA -- The infamously clever fans at Citizens Bank Park merely offered scattered wolf whistles for Tim Lincecum. But Phillies manager Charlie Manuel did plenty of chirping after Lincecum's six shutout innings led the Giants to a 4-1 victory to take two of three in one of baseball's toughest venues.
The Giants hadn't won a regular-season series at Philadelphia since 2004. But they shut down the Phillies to win the NLCS last season. Manuel didn't like all the platitudes his hitters showered on the Giants' pitching staff back then.
He isn't about to praise them now.
Asked how his lineup could solve great pitchers like Lincecum and Matt Cain, Manuel responded, "They're good pitchers. You say they're great pitchers. To me, I don't know how great they are. I think as they move on into their careers, there's the longevity part and "... that's when the greatness might come by.
"When you say somebody is great "... tonight I saw a 90 (mph) fastball, 92 at the best. I saw a good change-up. I saw a breaking ball. I saw a cutter. Good pitching, but at the same time we can beat that. I've seen us do that."
If Manuel likes the cards he's holding, so does Lincecum -- especially now that the Giants have Carlos Beltran, who was 0 for 4 in his debut but might have begun casting subtle influence on the rest of the lineup.
The crowd focused its wit and ill will on Beltran, their former N.L. East rival, and barely revived their whistling serenade for Lincecum -- a comment on his long locks -- when he came to the plate. It was much quieter than the cacophony that greeted him in the NLCS last season.
"I guess that it amps us up a little to come in here and do what we did last year in the playoffs and show them we can do it again," Lincecum said. "We've got the confidence. It's not just about what we did last year. We feel we can do it again this year."
Lincecum (9-8), who was scratched two days earlier because of a violent stomach ailment, had to work hard while stranding runners in five of his six innings.
Next time he faces the Phillies, perhaps Chase Utley will suddenly feel ill. He came to bat with runners in scoring position three times and made three outs against Lincecum, including strikeouts to kill opportunities in the third and fifth.
The Phillies hadn't lost consecutive home games since April. Meanwhile, the Giants improved to 8-1 in rubber games this season. This tilt might have held the most psychological importance -- even if Manuel insisted the Giants weren't in the Phillies' heads.
"Really, I don't think so at all," Manuel said. "I think we can get 'em, if you want to know the truth. I know we can get 'em. "... They've been playing us tough. They've got a good team. They've got good pitching. So do we. It's just a matter of us outplaying them. Basically, the last two nights they took it to us."
Beltran might be the Giants' most powerful offensive addition since Barry Bonds, but he didn't let a dramatic home run fly in his debut game. He grounded out to first base, struck out twice and flied out to right field.
His biggest moment probably came in the fifth inning, when he got a late jump on Jimmy Rollins' fly ball to right and took out a 2-foot chunk of turf while sliding on his right knee to make an awkward catch. His troublesome knees survived the tumble, but it might have caused mild arrhythmia in the Giants' front office.
The Giants had been the only team in the majors without a 10-homer man. Now they've got two. In addition to Beltran, who hit 15 homers as a Met, Pablo Sandoval's solo shot off Kyle Kendrick in the second inning was his 10th of the season.
Beltran said he encouraged Sandoval during batting practice to use the opposite field. That's where the Panda's homer went, curling just inside the left-field pole.
"Pablo has a lot of power, man," Beltran said. "He came in after the home run and was so excited. If he stays in the middle of the field, he can do a lot of damage. He proved it."
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