Giants 5, Padres 3
Tim Lincecum allowed one run over 6 1/3 innings and Brandon Belt recorded two RBIs as visiting San Francisco held off San Diego in the rubber match of their three-game series.
Lincecum (8-5) yielded three hits and four walks while striking out six, exiting after throwing 105 pitches. The two-time National League Cy Young Award winner, who no-hit the Padres on June 25, didn’t allow a hit until the fourth and had his scoreless innings streak snapped at 23 1/3 when Brooks Conrad belted a one-out homer in the seventh.
Belt gave the Giants an early lead with an RBI single in the first off Jesse Hahn (4-2), who yielded three runs on five hits over seven frames as his four-game winning streak came to an end. Leadoff hitter Hunter Pence went 3-for-4 and scored three times for San Francisco, which recorded just its second series win in nearly a month.
San Francisco extended its lead to 3-0 in the third as Joe Panik doubled in a run and scored on Michael Morse’s two-out single. Panik went 2-for-4 and scored twice for the Giants, who moved ahead 5-1 in the eighth as Pence scored on Belt’s sacrifice fly and Hector Sanchez delivered an RBI double.
The Padres, who have lost two in a row following a five-game winning streak, cut the deficit to 5-3 in the eighth on Yasmani Grandal’s two-out, two-run homer off Sergio Romo. Santiago Casilla retired the Padres in order in the ninth for his third save and second in as many games.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval missed the game with a bruised left elbow and is listed as day-to-day. … San Francisco SS Brandon Crawford is mired in a 5-for-39 slump after going hitless in three at-bats on Sunday. … Romo has allowed a career-high seven home runs this season for San Francisco, which improved to 36-11 when scoring first.