San Francisco, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Tim Lincecum followed his no-hitter with another gem as the San Francisco Giants blanked the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-0, in the opener of a three-game set.
Lincecum joined Christy Mathewson last Wednesday as the only two Giants pitchers to throw two no-hitters, holding the Padres hitless for a second time.
On Tuesday, Lincecum (7-5) struck out six, scattered four hits and walked two over eight innings for the Giants, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Pablo Sandoval smacked his 100th career homer, a two-run shot, in the triumph.
Marco Gonzales (0-1) surrendered five runs on seven hits and four walks over 4 1/3 frames for St. Louis, which has dropped five of its last seven games.
After Lincecum worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam unscathed in the fourth inning, the Giants plated three runs in the home half and two more in the fifth to move in front.
Hunter Pence singled and scored on Buster Posey's double to start the fourth before Sandoval launched his two-run shot just over the wall in left.
Juan Perez led off the fifth with a single and scored when Pence whacked a double into left-center. Pence scampered to third on a Posey fly out and back- to-back walks by Sandoval and Michael Morse loaded the bases. Hector Sanchez's groundout brought home Pence to make it 5-0.
The Cardinals tallied just one hit against Lincecum after the fourth. With the bases loaded in the fourth, Lincecum struck out Allen Craig and Jon Jay before inducing an inning-ending groundout off the bat of Daniel Descalso to escape the threat.
Game Notes
Lincecum has a 17-inning scoreless streak ... The Giants were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, while the Cardinals finished 1-for-6 ... Sandoval's blast was his 10th of the year.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.