Giants use six pitchers to hold Cubs to two hits

SAN FRANCISCO — Bruce Bochy remembered stressing out while watching Tim Lincecum labor through the final innings of his 148-pitch no-hitter at San Diego last July. The Giants manager said there was “no chance” of stretching out his starter again Wednesday, even after Lincecum logged five hitless innings.

Not with a blister forming on the tip of Lincecum’s middle finger. Not with the Giants owning baseball’s best record. And certainly, not with more than half of the season to play.

Instead, Lincecum and five relievers combined on a weird two-hitter to lead the San Francisco Giants to a 5-0 win over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.

“He worked so hard out there. It was time,” Bochy said.

The unconventional performance included 10 baserunners — five walks, two hits, two errors and a hit batter — before an announced sellout crowd of 41,186 at AT&T Park that wanted to cheer history.

Lincecum struck out five, walked four and hit a batter in another wild but effective start. George Kontos (1-0) retired four straight before John Baker singled through the right side of the infield with one out in the seventh against lefty Jeremy Affeldt for Chicago’s first hit.

The Cubs hold the longest streak in the majors without being no-hit. The last time it happened to them was 1965, when Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game for the Dodgers.

“What’s the cliche? It’s a game of inches,” Baker said. “I think the Chicago Cubs are proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that baseball’s a game of inches.”

Hector Sanchez hit a two-run double, and three others drove in a run to help the Giants (34-19) extend the best record in the majors. San Francisco has won six of seven after holding the Cubs scoreless in consecutive games.

Edwin Jackson (3-5) gave up two runs on four hits in 5 1-3 innings for the Cubs, who have not won a road series since last September. He struck out nine and walked two.

But for most of a sunny afternoon along the bay, the focus remained on whether San Francisco’s staff would complete an improbable no-hitter.

Lincecum had a 32-pitch first inning that ended on Nate Schierholtz’s sharp lineout to first baseman Buster Posey with runners on second and third. He tossed another 20 in the second and pitched a perfect third.

The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner hit Schierholtz and overcame an error by shortstop Brandon Crawford on a grounder in the fourth. And after walking Emilio Bonifacio in the fifth, Lincecum got Junior Lake to ground into a double play.

It was the second straight erratic outing for Lincecum. He walked six in six innings in San Francisco’s 6-2 win over Minnesota last Friday.

Lincecum said a tiny blister began forming on the tip of his middle finger in the third. He said it’s not serious, but he didn’t want to risker further injury.

And with a no-hitter on his resume already, he felt no need to lobby Bochy for another inning.

“I think it’s just because I know what our bullpen is capable of,” Lincecum said. “I just wanted to get the win today and put up some good numbers today, so it was good.”

Jean Machi got two outs on three pitches, Juan Gutierrez allowed a single to Anthony Rizzo in 1 1-3 scoreless innings and Javier Lopez recorded the final two outs in the ninth.

San Francisco supplied support for the pitchers in the late innings.

Pablo Sandoval and Tyler Colvin drove in a run in the sixth, and Sanchez hit a two-run double to highlight a three-run seventh that gave the Giants a 5-0 lead.

Bochy said Sanchez will continue to catch Lincecum most of the season. He said the move is made, in part, to save Posey from the bumps and bruises that often come with catching Lincecum.

“We have a good relationship,” Sanchez said, “and we work well together.”

PHILLIES 6, ROCKIES 3

PHILADELPHIA — Ryan Howard hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night.

Chase Utley hit a tying, RBI single off Boone Logan before Howard drove one out to left-center for his fifth career walk-off homer.

Closer La Troy Hawkins (2-1) got the first out in the ninth before Tony Gwynn Jr. reached on second baseman D.J. LeMahieu’s throwing error. Ben Revere followed with a single to right. Jimmy Rollins then hit a foul pop that Troy Tulowitzki, a two-time Gold Glove winning shortstop, dropped for an error. But Hawkins retired Rollins on a liner to left. Logan entered and allowed Utley’s line-drive single to right that scored Gwynn.

Howard then connected on a 2-2 pitch for his ninth homer.

Jonathan Papelbon (1-1) tossed a perfect ninth for the win.

BREWERS 8, ORIOLES 3

MILWAUKEE — Yovani Gallardo earned a victory with his arm a day after getting a win with his bat, and Milwaukee overcame two home runs by Nelson Cruz to beat Baltimore in the interleague matchup.

Ryan Braun hit an early two-run double and Khris Davis added a three-run homer in the eighth.

Cruz hit two solo shots and leads the majors with 19 home runs.

On Tuesday night, Gallardo delivered a game-winning RBI double as a pinch-hitter in the 10th inning.

Back on the mound, Gallardo (3-3) gave up three runs on four hits and five walks in 6 2-3 innings. He also went 1 for 2 at the plate.

Braun’s double in the second inning helped the Brewers build a 4-1 lead against Bud Norris (3-5).

DIAMONDBACKS 12, PADRES 6

PHOENIX — Chase Anderson became the first Arizona pitcher to win his first three career starts and the Diamondbacks set a first-inning franchise scoring record with eight runs on eight hits.

Rookie Tommy Medica fell a single shy of becoming the first Padre to hit for the cycle.

Prado and Paul Goldschmidt both hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs for Arizona. Diamondbacks rookie Chris Owings had his first big-league four-hit game.

Arizona, taking two of three from the Padres, chased starter Tim Stauffer (2-1) after one-third of an inning.

Anderson (3-0) got big support for the second straight outing. The Diamondbacks scored 18 runs for him in his previous start.

REDS 3, DODGERS 2

LOS ANGELES — Brandon Phillips hit a two-run homer against Clayton Kershaw and Homer Bailey pitched seven effective innings to lead Cincinnati.

Bailey (5-3) allowed two runs and five hits while striking out six.

Yasiel Puig, who has reached base safely in 29 straight games, led off the Dodgers’ sixth with an opposite-field homer to right-center that narrowed the gap to 3-2. But former Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton retired Puig and Hanley Ramirez on flyballs for the last two outs in the eighth after replacing Manny Parra with a runner at second, and Aroldis Chapman pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save.

Kershaw (3-2) allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings and struck out nine.

YANKEES 7, CARDINALS 4

ST. LOUIS — Hiroki Kuroda snapped an 11-start road winless streak and Jacoby Ellsbury helped build an early lead with three hits and three RBIs in his first three at-bats for New York.

John Ryan Murphy added two RBIs for the Yankees, who took two of three without an appearance from Mark Teixeira, nursing a sore wrist, and wrapped up a 5-4 trip. Catcher Brian McCann made his first career start at first base in the finale.

Shelby Miller (6-4) allowed a career-worst seven runs and nine hits in five innings for St. Louis. Kolten Wong had a career-best four hits and an RBI, Matt Carpenter doubled twice with an RBI and Yadier Molina had two hits and two walks, but the Cardinals stranded 13 runners.

Derek Jeter didn’t play in the finale but made a curtain call before the seventh inning after the scoreboard camera focused on him in the dugout and fans responded with another standing ovation.

Kuroda (4-3) allowed three runs in 5 2-3 innings for his first road victory since last July 25 at Texas. He had been 0-7 since then, the longest drought of his career but is 1-1 away from Yankee Stadium this year.

MARLINS 8, NATIONALS 5, 10 INNINGS

WASHINGTON — Casey McGehee’s fourth hit of the game drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and Reed Johnson doubled home two more for Miami.

Ed Lucas singled off Jerry Blevins (2-2) to open the 10th and Christian Yelich walked. After Derek Dietrich bunted the runners over, the Nationals intentionally walked Giancarlo Stanton.

McGehee then lined a single off the base of the wall in left, scoring Lucas, while Yelich stopped at third. That became moot when Johnson doubled. Yelich and Stanton scored to make it 7-4, and Donovan Solano singled home the eighth run.

Kevin Slowey (1-0) worked one inning for the win and Steve Cishek pitched the 10th, allowing one run.

METS 5, PIRATES 0

NEW YORK — Bartolo Colon carried a three-hitter into the eighth inning and New York got home runs from David Wright and Lucas Duda in a victory over sloppy Pittsburgh.

Colon (4-5) struck out a season-high nine in his second consecutive win, and Wright added an RBI single during an eventful afternoon. He also stole a base, made two throwing errors and robbed Andrew McCutchen of extra bases with a diving play at third.

New York salvaged the final two games of a 4-5 homestand after firing batting coach Dave Hudgens and replacing him with minor league hitting coordinator Lamar Johnson.

The Mets improved to 13-17 at Citi Field, winning the series against Pittsburgh for their first back-to-back victories at home since a three-game streak from April 23-25.

BLUE JAYS 3, RAYS 2

TORONTO — Pinch-runner Kevin Pillar scored the winning run on a throwing error by pitcher Juan Carlos Oviedo and the Blue Jays won their ninth straight game and completed a sweep,

Dioner Navarro singled to begin the ninth and was replaced by Pillar. Oviedo fielded Anthony Gose’s bunt along the first base line and threw wildly to first, with the ball rolling into foul territory down the right field line. Pillar was waved home by third base coach Luis Rivera and slid home safely under the tag of catcher Ali Solis.

Aaron Loup (2-1) worked one inning for the win as Toronto won for the 14th time in 16 games.

Oviedo (1-1) faced just two batters.

RED SOX 4, BRAVES 0

BOSTON — John Lackey pitched neatly into the seventh inning and the Red Sox beat the Braves, their third straight victory after their longest losing streak in 20 years.

The Red Sox honored Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling and members of their 2004 World Series championship team before the game, then put on another winning performance at Fenway Park.

Jackie Bradley Jr., A.J. Pierzynski and Jonny Gomes each had had two hits and an RBI as the Red Sox extended their mastery over the Braves after beating them in Atlanta on Monday and Tuesday nights. Boston is 18-6 since 2005 against Atlanta.

Lackey (6-3) combined with three relievers for Boston’s first shutout of the season. He gave up eight hits, struck out nine and walked none in 6 1-3 innings.

Boston’s winning string has come after a 10-game skid.

RANGERS 1, TWINS 0

MINNEAPOLIS — Joe Saunders made an impressive return to the Texas rotation and Luis Sardinas drove in the only run of the game to lift the Rangers to a victory over the Twins.

Saunders gave up five hits and struck out six in five innings after being activated from the 15-day disabled list earlier in the day.

Sardinas had a two-out single off struggling Twins reliever Jared Burton (1-2) in the seventh inning to help propel the Rangers to their seventh win in the past 10 games.

Kyle Gibson gave up six hits and struck out four in six scoreless innings, but the Twins left nine runners on base and went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Joe Mauer went 0 for 4.

WHITE SOX 3, INDIANS 2

CHICAGO — Moises Sierra drove in the winning run with a single in the ninth inning, and the White Sox beat the Indians to complete a three-game sweep.

Chicago’s Hector Noesi and Cleveland’s T.J. House each came through with dominant starts. The Indians’ Jason Giambi hit his 440th homer, but the White Sox came away with their seventh win in 10 games.

The Indians had just scored a run in the top of the ninth off Ronald Belisario (3-3) when the White Sox answered in the bottom half against Bryan Shaw (1-1).

Third baseman Mike Aviles bounced the throw to first on Tyler Flowers’ leadoff grounder. Pinch-runner Leury Garcia stole second and moved up on a fly by Marcus Semien before Sierra won it with a single to right on a 3-2 pitch, getting mobbed at first base by teammates.

ASTROS 9, ROYALS 3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chris Carter hit two home runs, George Springer set a rookie club record for homers in a month and the Astros beat the Royals for their fifth straight win.

The Astros, with the worst record in the AL, won three times in Kansas City for their first sweep of the season. Houston’s winning streak is its longest since a six-game string that ended last June 3.

The Royals have lost four in a row.

ATHLETICS 3, TIGERS 1

OAKLAND, Calif. — Josh Donaldson hit a game-ending, three-run homer off Joe Nathan with one out in the ninth inning and Scott Kazmir pitched his first complete game in nearly eight years as the Athletics rallied past the Tigers.

Anibal Sanchez was in command, allowing only two hits as he took a shutout bid into the ninth inning before Oakland rallied to hand the Tigers their eighth loss in 10 games.

Coco Crisp got it started with one out when he hit an opposite-field double just inside the third-base line that ended Sanchez’s night after 111 pitches.

John Jaso greeted Nathan with a single off third baseman Nick Castellanos’ glove before Donaldson hit a towering drive into the left-field seats for his second career walk-off homer. He also did it on April 12, 2013, against the Tigers.

Nathan (2-1) blew his fourth save in 16 chances.

MARINERS 3, ANGELS 1

SEATTLE — Felix Hernandez took a shutout bid into the ninth inning, coming within one out of his first complete game since August 2012 as the Mariners beat the Angels.

Mike Zunino homered and drove in all of Seattle’s runs.

Hernandez (7-1) became the seventh pitcher in Mariners history with seven victories before June 1. He won his fourth consecutive start with his most dominant performance of the season.

Zunino gave Hernandez the lead with a two-out, two-run single in the second inning. He led off the eighth with a home run against C.J. Wilson (6-4).