SAN DIEGO -- If you never saw Willie Mays play, just review the Giants' 6-1 victory Friday night over the San Diego Padres, in which Andres Torres delivered a nice impersonation of his famed center-field predecessor.
Torres did everything within his powers to help the Giants win their fourth game in a row. He went 3-for-4, collected two RBIs, stole a base and employed impeccable timing to score one of the three runs he tallied.
Torres contributed more than offense. In the fourth inning, with two on, two outs and San Francisco clinging to a 2-1 lead, Torres overtook Kyle Phillips' drive, hauled it in a step and a half in front of the center-field wall and held onto the ball despite colliding roughly with the barrier.
Saved from surrendering a two-run double, Tim Lincecum worked two more innings, striking out three in that span. Lincecum expressed sincere appreciation for Torres' assistance.
"If anybody could [run down that ball], I think it's him," Lincecum said. "Luckily, this park kind of kills the ball for you whenever it's hit to that part. Torres was just fast enough to run it down and make a great play on it. Saved my butt, actually."
Despite throwing three wild pitches, Lincecum (8-7) remained mostly in control. A 27-pitch first inning, which ended with a pair of stranded baserunners, inflated his pitch count and hastened his departure after six innings.
"I took myself a dirt road," Lincecum said.
The right-hander still struck out seven while yielding just one run and three hits.
"His command was a little bit off, but the secondary stuff was good," Padres manager Bud Black said. "He wasn't as crisp as we've seen him in the past, but still nevertheless, it's good stuff, it's competitive stuff. Each and every pitch he's coming at you with deception."
The Giants had averaged 1.1 runs for Lincecum while he was in the game during his previous seven starts. This time was different, largely due to Torres.
He singled and scored in the first inning, reaching third on Mike Fontenot's hit-and-run single despite slipping after passing second base. Pablo Sandoval, salvaging the evening in which his hitting streak ended at 22 games, sent home Torres with a sacrifice fly.
After Cody Ross homered leading off the second inning against Padres starter Dustin Moseley (2-9), Torres went back to work. He lined an RBI single, stole a base and scored again in the fifth -- an artful example of baserunning, as he dashed in from third while Fontenot was being thrown out at second base on a steal attempt.
Torres continued his big night against reliever Ernesto Frieri in the seventh inning, hitting the second of back-to-back doubles to drive in Aaron Rowand before scoring on a wild pitch.
Torres entered the game batting only .224, far below the .268 average he posted last year. His all-around excellence reminded the Giants of his potential as an offensive asset as they climbed a season-high 14 games above .500 (54-40) and inched 4 1/2 games ahead of second-place Arizona in the National League West -- the largest advantage held by any of the six division leaders.
"That's the way you win ballgames, if you get your leadoff guy going," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "That's a game he should feel good about and get his confidence going."
Perpetually his own harshest critic -- "Sometimes I overthink about hitting," he said -- Torres arrived early at PETCO Park for a tutorial with hitting coach Hensley Meulens. Torres worked on moving his hands more efficiently to get them into proper hitting position as the pitch approaches. The extra work proved beneficial.
"I was having trouble hitting tough pitches and getting to the ball," Torres said. "Today I felt better and went out there and performed."
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