Lincecum, Giants blank Phils, 2-0

SAN FRANCISCO - Tim Lincecum and Cliff Lee do not appear to have much in common. One is a long-haired West Coaster, the other a close-cropped Southerner. One is a righthander, the other a lefty.

But both won a Cy Young Award last year, both are essential to their team's playoff hopes, and both have pitched brilliantly in this series. The night after Lee threw a complete game in his Phillies debut Friday, Lincecum posted eight shutout innings to beat the Phils 2-0 at AT&T Park.

The Phillies have lost three of their last four games, largely because of a suddenly silent offense. They went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight baserunners last night.

"He pitched a tremendous game," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said of Lincecum. "We had good chances. We couldn't get the big hit when we needed to, but that comes back to how he pitched."

The 25-year-old Lincecum, whose long hair and slacker countenance recall Sean Penn's Spicoli character in the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, sports a dominant repertoire that seems unlikely given his 5-foot-11, 170 pound frame. But with help from an anachronistic windup, Lincecum is able to fire a mid-90s fastball, and complement it with a fluttering change-up, hard slider and curveball.

Manuel said that, in winning just once in four previous tries against the Phils, Lincecum relied more heavily on his fastball. This time, he used all of his pitches.

"He had a good idea and a plan," Manuel said.

"His stuff was really good," said Jayson Werth. "He mixed everything well."

Save for a late-inning burst of runs Friday made possible in large measure by an abundance of walks issued by the Giants' bullpen, the Phils offense has lagged of late. Lincecum was hardly an ideal opponent for a team trying to shake recent flatness.

"With guys on base it seems like we're not hitting the ball very good," Manuel said. "We're not getting good swings and we're striking out a lot."

But Joe Blanton, he of the 1.21 July earned run average, traded scoreless innings with Lincecum for half of the game. Through the first four-and-a-half innings, the righthander allowed as many hits as he collected. Blanton singled to lead off the fifth, and went to second on Werth's one-out single. After Chase Utley struck out waving at a diving slider, Ryan Howard loaded the bases when he reached on a slow single hit to shallow right. It was the Phils' first hit in five at-bats with runners in scoring position, but Ibanez spoiled the rally by grounding out.

Former Phillie Aaron Rowand hit a one-out double in the bottom of the inning, and went to third on a Fred Lewis chop that eluded Blanton's glove.

"I was thinking about checking the runner before I caught the ball," Blanton said. "They gave it a hit, but that's a play that has to be made 100 percent of the time and I didn't do it."

The Giants added another run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh, and the Phils could do nothing against a pitcher who was just as impressive as Lee the night before.