Giants hurler fans 14
SAN FRANCISCO — The sellout crowd that had been waiting seven years for another playoff game roared when Tim Lincecum jogged back out to the mound to start the ninth inning. The way the Freak dominated in his postseason debut, there was no way manager Bruce Bochy would take the ball away.
Lincecum pitched a two-hitter and struck out 14 in a dazzling performance, and the San Francisco Giants scored their only run after a questionable umpiring call to beat the Atlanta Braves 1-0 in Game 1 of their NL division series Thursday night.
"That's one of the best efforts I've ever seen," Bochy said. "What a great job that kid did. He's tough. If he's on and he has all his pitches working, he's going to be tough."
That he was.
The two-time NL Cy Young winner pitched a gem a day after Philadelphia's Roy Halladay threw only the second no-hitter in postseason history in his first playoff game. Lincecum outdueled playoff veteran Derek Lowe and caught a break, too.
Cody Ross singled in the only run Lincecum needed in the fourth after Buster Posey was called safe by umpire Paul Emmel on a steal of second.
"I guess it's a good thing we don't have instant replay right now," Posey said. "It was a beautiful slide, wasn't it?"
It was the first career steal for Posey, even though he appeared to be tagged out by Brooks Conrad on the play — retiring Braves manager Bobby Cox, the all-time leader in ejections, did not argue.
"I haven't seen it," Cox said. "Some of the guys came down after that inning and said he was out by six, eight inches. From the dugout you can't see anything."
Said Emmel: "I saw him safe. That's what I called."
Lincecum struck out Derrek Lee for the third time to end the 119-pitch masterpiece in 2 hours, 26 minutes. He became just the 12th pitcher with 14 or more strikeouts in a postseason game.
"As far as shutouts go, I think that was up there with my better ones," said Lincecum, who pitched on seven days' rest. "I was pretty anxious to get out there a couple days ago. You just have to deal with those extra days."
Yankees 2, Twins 0
At Minneapolis, Andy Pettitte gave the New York Yankees yet another clutch performance in the postseason, pitching seven smooth innings in a victory that gave his team a 2-0 lead in their AL division series.
Lance Berkman hit a home run in the fifth and a go-ahead double in the seventh — right after a disputed pitch led to the ejection of Twins manager Ron Gardenhire — and sent the Twins to their 11th straight postseason loss. Eight of those have come against the Yankees, who trailed in each of those games.
The Twins haven't won a postseason game since 2004, matching the Philadelphia Phillies (1915-1976) for the second-longest streak in history behind the Boston Red Sox (1986-1995) and their 13 in a row.
Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth for his second save of the series.
Rangers 6, Rays 0
At St. Petersburg, Fla., two dominating pitching performances and a long home run by playoff neophyte Michael Young have the Texas Rangers on the verge of winning a postseason series for the first time.
Young hit a three-run homer one pitch after a disputed check-swing that prompted the ejection of Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon, helping C.J. Wilson and the AL West champions beat the Rays for a 2-0 lead in their AL division series.
Texas is the only current major league franchise that's never won a playoff series. After taking two games on the road, that can change when the best-of-five matchup shifts to Rangers Ballpark for Game 3 on Saturday.
