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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Giants power past Brewers

Photo gallery: Major League Baseball

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Tim Lincecum

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SAN FRANCISCO — Although Tim Lincecum readily acknowledged he was mostly awful in his first opening-day start, he left the ballpark excited about what happened.

For just about the first time since the NL Cy Young Award winner became a full-time major leaguer, he didn't have to be outstanding for the San Francisco Giants to win.

Travis Ishikawa hit a three-run triple, Aaron Rowand had three RBIs and the Giants overcame Lincecum's struggles for a 10-6 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday in the majors' final opener.

Lincecum walked leadoff hitter Rickie Weeks on five pitches right after heroic pilot Chesley Sullenberger threw out the first pitch, and the 24-year-old right-hander's day got no better. He made it through just three innings, yielding three runs, four hits and three walks in a scattered performance that included five strikeouts, but not much more to embrace.

"When you're a Cy Young winner, there's going to be a target on your back," said Lincecum, who will formally receive his award in front of the home crowd tonight. "Milwaukee was trying to get aggressive, and they've got a good power team. They probably wanted to do as many things as they could to me."

Last season, Lincecum would have expected such a sorry performance to result in certain defeat for the Giants, who finished 29th among the majors' 30 teams with 637 runs last season.

"Those guys played really good baseball offensively," Lincecum said. "They were putting a lot of good swings on good pitches. It's going to be great to see them develop and score runs this year."

Joe Martinez (1-0) gave up two runs during two rocky innings in his major league debut, but still got the win when Rowand put the Giants ahead 6-5 with his two-run shot in the fourth. Bengie Molina added a solo shot in the seventh, and Randy Winn led off the eighth with another homer.

BRAVES 4, PHILLIES 0:

Jair Jurrjens (1-0) and four relievers combined on a six-hitter, Kelly Johnson and Chipper Jones hit solo homers and visiting Atlanta made it two straight over defending World Series champion Philadelphia.

MARLINS 8, NATIONALS 3:

Josh Johnson (1-0) pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning and host Florida got two-run homers from Jorge Cantu and Dan Uggla.

CARDINALS 9, PIRATES 3:

Albert Pujols, Chris Duncan and Yadier Molina hit two-run homers, and Kyle Lohse (1-0) allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings as St. Louis beat Pittsburgh.

ASTROS 3, CUBS 2:

Jeff Keppinger's bases-loaded, broken-bat single with one out in the bottom of the 10th off closer Kevin Gregg drove in Ivan Rodriguez to win it for Houston. Chicago tied the score on Alfonso Soriano's homer in the eighth.

ROCKIES 3, DIAMONDBACKS 0:

Ubaldo Jimenez (1-0) gave up four hits over seven innings, Houston Street worked the ninth to finish the five-hitter, and Troy Tulowitzki homered for the second straight game, helping visiting Colorado beat Arizona.

PADRES 4, DODGERS 2:

Chase Headley hit a two-run double to spark a three-run sixth and Heath Bell rang in the post-Trevor Hoffman era, striking out the side in the ninth inning to save San Diego's victory over visiting Los Angeles.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

WHITE SOX 4, ROYALS 2:

Jim Thome hit his 542nd career home run, a three-run shot with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, rallying Chicago past Kansas City in a season opener delayed a day because of bad weather.

BLUE JAYS 5, TIGERS 4:

Rod Barajas hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning as Toronto rallied to beat Detroit, which tied the game at 4 in the top of the ninth on Brandon Inge's solo homer.

TWINS 6, MARINERS 5:

Denard Span had a run-scoring infield single and Alexi Casilla followed with a two-run single to cap a three-run rally with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as Minnesota beat Seattle.

ATHLETICS 6, ANGELS 4:

Jason Giambi, Jack Cust and Ryan Sweeney had three hits apiece to lead a 16-hit offense as host Oakland bounced back from a 3-0 loss to Los Angeles in Monday's season opener when it managed only three hits.

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