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Lincecum no-hits Cubs through 5 in Giants win

May 29, 2014 - 2:08 AM San Francisco, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Tim Lincecum's mercurial bid for a second no-hitter was done in by a blister and a high pitch count.

Lincecum threw five no-hit innings before San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy took him out for a pinch-hitter, and five Giants relievers finished off a two- hit shutout in a 5-0 win over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.

George Kontos (1-0) preserved the no-hitter into the seventh inning before Cubs catcher John Baker singled off Jeremy Affeldt with one out to end it.

The Giants finished off a 5-1 homestand with back-to-back shutouts of the Cubs to end a three-game series, holding them scoreless for the last 20 innings.

Lincecum did his part, though he labored through his five innings despite having what Bochy called "great stuff."

The two-time Cy Young Award winner threw 96 pitches -- just 52 for strikes -- walked four batters and hit another. He struck out five.

Lincecum threw 148 pitches in his first career no-hitter last July 13 against the Padres in San Diego. But Bochy said there was "no chance" the right-hander was going to be able to finish Wednesday's game.

"He worked hard and had great stuff but he was starting to develop a blister and there were concerns with that," said Bochy.

"When you're close to 100 pitches after five innings, that's a lot of work. ... There was no doubt he was going to come out at some point."

Edwin Jackson (3-5) struck out nine but took the loss, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings. Jackson threw a 149-pitch no-hitter on June 25, 2010, for Arizona against Tampa Bay.

Lincecum's outing started with a called strike, followed by four straight balls to walk leadoff hitter Emilio Bonifacio.

He also walked Anthony Rizzo in the first. Pablo Sandoval saved a hit when he dove to stop Starlin Castro's shot down the third-base line and threw him out at first.

Lincecum threw 32 pitches in the first.

"We had him on the ropes," said Cubs manager Rick Renteria -- and it wasn't the only time.

Lincecum walked John Baker in the second and hit Nate Schierholtz on the hand at the end of a seven-pitch at-bat in the fourth inning that began with two called strikes.

The next batter, Mike Olt, reached on shortstop Brandon Crawford's error, moving Schierholtz to second base, where he stayed.

In the fifth inning, Bonifacio drew a five-pitch walk to reach base again but Lincecum got Junior Lake to ground into an inning-ending double play on his final pitch.

Kontos threw a perfect sixth inning for the Giants and was replaced by Affeldt after striking out Olt to start the seventh. Affeldt walked Justin Ruggiano before serving up Baker's hit through the right side.

The Giants had four baserunners -- one walk, three singles -- before Angel Pagan led off the sixth inning with a double. He scored on Sandoval's double off reliever James Russell and Tyler Colvin also had an RBI double in the inning to give the Giants a 2-0 lead.

They pushed it to 5-0 in the seventh, the first run scoring when Olt made an error on Buster Posey's grounder to third base and the last two on Hector Sanchez's double. Both hits came off Justin Grimm.

Game Notes

The Giants will start a seven-game road trip Thursday in St. Louis ... The Cubs are 3-4 on a 10-game road trip that finishes up with three games in Milwaukee starting Friday ... There have been 10 combined no-hitters -- those thrown by more than one pitcher -- in major league history, just three in the National League.