CINCINNATI — You didn’t need to be a lip reader to catch Tim Lincecum’s words in the second inning Tuesday night.

He did some very un-Timmy things: A four-pitch walk with the bases loaded, a two-run single to the opposing pitcher that nicked first base, then spouting an off-color version of, “Surely, good sirs, you must be joking.”
For once, Lincecum’s game was forgettable. For once, the Giants’ comeback effort was not.
No joke here, good sirs. With Ryan Garko carrying the flag, the Giants erased a four-run deficit for the first time all season while bailing out Lincecum and grabbing an 8-5, 10-inning victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.
Maybe Garko can settle in now. He had two huge hits: a tying, two-run single in the sixth inning and a two-run double in the 10th off Francisco Cordero that put the Giants ahead.
“These are the kinds of games I was slotted in to be a part of and hopefully have a positive effect,” said Garko, who arrived in a July 27 trade from Cleveland. “It’s important to have an approach and it’s something I worked at all my life. Even when I’ve scuffled in the past, you have to find a way to handle the bat and move runners. That’s how you win games. Scoring runs, driving in runs “” that’s what it’s all about.”
That’s a novel approach for the Giants, who have struggled all year for consistent production yet remained one game behind the Colorado Rockies in the NL wild card standings.
To remain contenders, the Giants must win behind co-aces Lincecum and Matt Cain — something it looked like they would fail to do against the woeful Reds for the third time in August.
The Reds won the games Lincecum and Cain started earlier this month at AT&T Park, and they held a 4-0 lead after the second inning.
Lincecum gave up consecutive singles, and after a double steal, manager Bruce Bochy intentionally walked catcher Ryan Hanigan with one out. Bochy couldn’t have foreseen Lincecum walking shortstop Paul Janish, a .212 hitter, on four pitches.
Then Reds pitcher Homer Bailey threaded his hit that may or may not have nicked first base. Bochy put stock in Lincecum’s emphatic epithets and catcher Bengie Molina’s protestations, arguing the call until umpire Marvin Hudson ejected him.
“I’m trying not to think too much about the first six innings and be happy with what the team did the rest of the game,” Lincecum said. “We’re in the wild-card race and every game is big. They picked my butt up.”
Lincecum’s two strikeouts were a season low. His previous low-strikeout game was four.
“I didn’t feel I had my rhythm or my stuff,” he said. “It was terrible. You’ll run into those days. You could see the frustration on my face.”
But Lincecum allowed just a solo homer to Joey Votto over the next four innings and the bullpen carried on from there while retiring 12 of 13 hitters. Bob Howry (1-5) pitched a perfect ninth to force extra innings, and Brian Wilson pitched around a leadoff double in the bottom of the 10th to record his 29th save.
Randy Winn had the Giants’ other significant hit “” a two-run double that preceded Garko’s tying single in the sixth.
Like Monday night at Citi Field, Fred Lewis presented the lineup card and met with umpires. He’ll hang onto that duty until the Giants lose “” or until he makes a mistake relaying the ground rules to the team.
Count on Bochy scribbling Garko’s name on the card.
“I’ll tell you, he’s going to be out there,” Bochy said. “This guy’s got a knack of doing what he did tonight. He’s got a good swing, a short swing, he hits righties and lefties and he likes hitting with men on base. It’s a need for us, a guy who can drive in runs, and he did it tonight.”