SAN FRANCISCO - Pat Burrell shook his head as he walked through the visitors' clubhouse and into the food room yesterday afternoon at AT&T Park.

"Hard, harder and harder," he said.

He had described San Francisco Giants righthander Tim Lincecum perfectly. Lincecum threw his mid-90s m.p.h. fastball beautifully in an 8-2 victory over the Phillies, allowing just four hits, two runs and one walk and striking out eight in eight innings.

"He was throwing his pitches pretty much where he wanted them," Chase Utley said. "If you throw 80 or 100 [m.p.h.], if you can hit your spots, it makes it tough on the hitters."

That's exactly what happened yesterday.

Lincecum threw hard and hit his spots, which made him nearly impossible to hit. Phillies lefthander Jamie Moyer, who relies on control and pitch selection, didn't hit his spots deep in counts and paid the price dearly. He allowed two runs in the second, three in the third, and another run in the fourth to make it 6-2.

"Pick a hitter," said Moyer, who dropped to 2-3 with a 5.01 ERA. "Every hitter, it was 0-2, 1-2, 2-2. They put the bat on the ball, but I did not make good pitches deep in the count. And to me that's the difference in the game. I was able to get strike one, strike two, but didn't execute to finish. In essence, I stunk today. I deserved what I got."

In two of the last three days, the Phillies have faced two of the best pitchers in baseball: Arizona's Brandon Webb and Lincecum, who is 5-1 with a 1.61 ERA. They have lost both times.

"The good thing about that is that when you face guys like that, the other guys don't seem nearly as good," said Chris Coste, who hit a solo home run to left center in the eighth inning. "In the past, we've had success against good pitchers, but right now they're two of the best pitchers in baseball and they're pitching that way lately. They've both been dominating."

Lincecum struck out the side in the first inning, which seemed to be a warning sign for the Phillies.

"I really didn't get all concerned because I wanted to see him a little bit, but it looked like he just started getting loose in the fourth," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "Then I started getting concerned. And you know what? I could tell that he wanted it, too."

He wanted it. He got it. And the Phillies were left feeling thankful they won't have to face him again this season.