• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Giants take series in Philly; Beltran hitless in debut

Jul 29, 2011 - 3:23 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The Giants finally had Carlos Beltran's bat in the lineup, but didn't need it.

Pablo Sandoval provided the pop with a solo homer and Tim Lincecum returned from the flu to pitch six shutout innings on Thursday, leading San Francisco to a 4-1 victory over the Phillies in the finale of their three-game series.

Scratched from his scheduled start on Tuesday and pushed back two days in the rotation, Lincecum (9-8) struck out six while giving up three hits and four walks.

"We didn't handle him too good," said Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel.

Beltran went 0-for-4 in his Giants debut after signing off on a trade that landed him near the top of a lineup in need of a big bat. The Giants dealt pitching prospect Zack Wheeler to the Mets to acquire the switch-hitting outfielder.

He grounded out in his first at-bat, struck out leading off the fourth and sixth innings, then flied out to start the eighth.

Still, the Giants won the last two games of the series to get the better of their NLCS opponents again, handing the Phillies their first back-to-back losses in almost two months.

"He looked all right. He's going to get settled in," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Beltran. "It's not going to be one guy carrying us. We're not going to ask him to do that."

Beltran started his first game with the Giants in right field, although he indicated his openness to play anywhere Bochy wants him to.

"I'm willing to do whatever they need me to do," said Beltran, who is batting .286 with 15 homers and 66 runs batted in this season.

The Giants have needed a bat, especially since losing star catcher Buster Posey for the season after a grisly home plate collision tore up his left ankle.

The Phillies looked like the team in need Thursday.

After being stifled by Matt Cain and the bullpen a day before -- they had just four hits in a 2-1 loss -- the Phillies fared only moderately better in this one.

Jimmy Rollins led off the first inning with a double, but the Phillies only really threatened once before scoring their only run on Chase Utley's double in the eighth.

The had just six hits in the game, including Ross Gload's pinch-hit double high off the right field wall in the ninth inning. Brian Wilson shook that off and stranded Gload at third base, picking up his MLB-leading 33rd save.

The Phillies hadn't dropped consecutive games since losing four in a row from May 31-June 4. They were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, stranding 10.

The Giants scored all of their runs with Philadelphia starter Kyle Kendrick (5-5) on the mound.

Sandoval poked his 10th homer of the season inside the left-field pole to lead off the second and Nate Schierholtz delivered an RBI single in the fourth, scoring Aubrey Huff to make it 2-0.

Two more run scored in the seventh when Phillies third baseman Michael Martinez overthrew first on Aaron Rowand's grounder. Martinez later made a diving stop on Jeff Keppinger's sharp grounder and gunned him out at first to end the inning.

Kendrick was charged with three earned runs on six hits and two walks, striking out four in 6 1/3 innings. Juan Perez and Brad Lidge finished the seventh for him, while Michael Stutes and David Herndon each threw a perfect inning.

Lincecum said he felt fine. He could have gone back in to pitch another inning, but Bochy elected to take him out instead.

"He had gone far enough," the manager said.

Game Notes

Lincecum has won three of his last four starts...The Giants are 13-5 in their last 18 games...Both teams had six hits.