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Lincecum helps Giants end skid

May 11, 2008 - 12:19 AM By Ryan Leong PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Tim Lincecum is living up to his nickname of "Franchise."

Lincecum tossed eight impressive innings and Jose Castillo went 4-for-4 and scored three runs as the San Francisco Giants halted a five-game losing streak Saturday with an 8-2 triumph over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Lincecum (5-1) limited the Phillies to two runs and four hits in his longest outing of the season. The 23-year-old righthander struck out eight while walking just one.

Former Phillie Aaron Rowand, Randy Winn and Omar Vizquel - in his season debut - collected three hits apiece and Dan Ortmeier drove in a pair of runs for San Francisco, which recorded 15 hits. Rowand and Winn each belted a solo home run.

"We got contributions throughout the lineup," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Omar, it was nice to see him out there, and what a game he had. The back end of the order did some good things, too. Rowand and Castillo had big days, and that is what we need. We put together a great ballgame today. We executed and pitched well."

Ryan Howard and Chris Coste homered for Philadelphia, which lost for the third time in five games.

Lincecum, the Giants' first-round pick in 2006, is emerging as the staff ace. He struck out the side in the first inning Saturday and retired nine straight batters following Howard's leadoff homer in the second.

"Today everything felt good," Lincecum said. "My changeup was good when I needed it to be, and my curveball was there when I needed it to be also. I didn't throw too many sliders, but I just felt like I had a knack for things going. It was one of those days where everything fell into place."

After Geoff Jenkins' single in the fifth, Lincecum set down another 10 in a row before Coste's one-out solo shot in the eighth.

Howard's seventh blast of the season in the second gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead, but the Giants moved ahead for good in the bottom of the inning. Rowand launched a leadoff shot into the bleachers in left-center field and Lincecum helped his own cause with an RBI single later in the frame.

"We need to score more than 3.5 runs a game or whatever it is that I saw the other day to win a lot of ballgames," Rowand said. "Even with a good pitching staff that we have, we need to be able to score some more runs. Everybody's battling and we're just going to try to move forward."

San Francisco opened up the game in the third, scoring three runs to take a 5-1 lead. Singles by Winn, Rowand and Castillo loaded the bases before Emmanuel Burriss lifted a sacrifice fly. Ortmeier followed with a double to right, plating two.

The Giants added a run in each of the next three innings. Winn hit his first homer of the season in the fourth before Castillo scored on an error in the fifth and delivered an RBI single in the sixth.

"I felt pretty good," Castillo said. "Everybody was working good. I waited for my pitch and I'm happy for the win, for me and for the team. (Jamie Moyer) is a good pitcher. He pitches slow, but I waited for the changeup for the best pitch to hit."

Moyer (2-3) lasted four innings for the Phillies, surrendering six runs and nine hits.

"He threw a lot of pitches and they were hitting him pretty good," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "The veteran hitters, they've been around, and they were patient with him. They didn't chase balls out of the strike zone and made him bring the ball up.

"Jamie's going to have a game like today. He has some of those games. He usually gives up about three or four runs, and every now and then, you'll see some teams beat up on him a little bit, and he always bounces back. Today just wasn't a good day for him."

The lefthanded Moyer walked one and struck out one in losing for the third time in four decisions.

"My day wrapped around not making pitches deeper into counts," Moyer said. "In essence, I stunk today. I got what I deserved."