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Lincecum carries no-no into 7th, Giants rout Rockies

Apr 19, 2011 - 6:08 AM Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Tim Lincecum carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and the Giants backed his performance with powerful bats, leading San Francisco to an 8-1 rout of Colorado in the opener of a three-game series.

Carlos Gonzalez broke up the no-hit bid with a single through the right side with one out in the seventh inning.

"I wasn't really thinking about [the potential no-hitter]," Lincecum said. "I was just worried about trying to throw strikes."

Lincecum (2-1) was perfect through three innings, not allowing a baserunner until Dexter Fowler walked to lead off the fourth. He was later retired on a double play as Lincecum faced the minimum through four.

By then, the Giants had already scored all eight of their runs to take a commanding lead, highlighted by homers from Pat Burrell, Nate Schierholtz and Freddy Sanchez.

Lincecum gave up an RBI double to Todd Helton in the seventh, which scored Gonzalez, and was pulled with two outs in the eighth. He allowed three hits, three walks and struck out 10 while throwing 67 of his 115 pitches for strikes in a commanding performance.

"You certainly can't spot him eight runs," said Rockies manager Jim Tracy, who team carried an MLB-best 12-3 record into the game.

Indeed, the Giants gave Lincecum all the runs he needed with a five-run first inning against Colorado starter Esmil Rogers.

Aubrey Huff had an RBI single, Burrell belted a three-run homer to left and Schierholtz hammered a 1-1 fastball into the upper deck in right field -- a mammoth solo blast that measured 467 feet.

Rogers (2-1) threw hard -- Schierholtz's homer was proof of that -- but was touched for all eight runs in just three innings. He allowed six hits, two walks and struck out two.

Sanchez homered to center in the second inning, making it 6-0, and the Giants tacked on two more runs in the third. Pablo Sandoval walked, Burrell was hit by a pitch and Schierholtz followed with an RBI single. Miguel Tejada added a sacrifice fly to score Burrell for the 8-0 lead.

After walking Fowler in the fourth, Lincecum also put Helton on in the fifth before getting a pair of ground outs to end the inning. He retired the Rockies in order during a quick sixth.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy made defensive substitutions in the seventh. He put Darren Ford in centerfield, moved Aaron Rowand to left (benching Burrell) and replaced Huff at first base with Brandon Belt.

But, after getting Jonathan Herrera on a fly ball, Lincecum fell behind in the count to Gonzalez, who roped a no-doubt-about-it single through the hole on the right side to end the no-hit bid.

Lincecum was gunning for San Francisco's first no-hitter since Jonathan Sanchez shut down the Padres on July 10, 2009.

Game Notes

The Giants, who have captured each of their last three series by 2-1 margins, have won five of their last six games overall...Colorado fell to 8-2 in their last 10 games.