Lincecum Strikes Out 14 As San Francisco Giants Win Game 1
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SAN FRANCISCO — Pat Burrell hit a three-run homer, Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox was ejected for arguing a call at first base and the San Francisco Giants took a 4-1 lead after six innings in Game 2 of their NL division series Friday night.
After being held scoreless by Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain for the first 14 innings of the series, the Braves finally broke through with an unearned in the sixth against Cain on an RBI single by Brian McCann.
Cox wasn't around to see that after getting thrown out of a postseason game for the third time. The 69-year-old manager, who is retiring after the season, also has been ejected from a record 158 regular-season games.
The latest dispute came after Alex Gonzalez was called out by umpire Paul Emmel after Giants shortstop Juan Uribe made a diving stop and threw to first base in the second inning. The throw beat Gonzalez, but replays showed that Aubrey Huff's foot might have been pulled off the bag.
Emmel was the umpire at second base in Game 1 who called Giants rookie Buster Posey safe on a stolen base when replays showed he was out. Posey later scored the only run of the game.
Cox did not argue in the opener, but this time he came out of the dugout after first-base coach Glenn Hubbard started protesting. Cox argued for a bit and then was ejected by Emmel immediately after throwing his hat to the ground.
The Braves had bigger problems than the umpires as their hitters were unable to generate much offense against Cain. Tommy Hanson struggled in his first postseason start, too.
Freddy Sanchez singled with one out in the first off Hanson and Posey drew a four-pitch walk with two outs. Burrell hit the next pitch into the left-field seats for his fifth career postseason home run.
The Giants added another run in the second when Cody Ross hustled for a one-out double and scored on Cain's single to center. Cain became the first Giants pitcher to drive in a run in the postseason since Johnny Antonelli on Sept. 30, 1954, in Game 2 of the World Series against Cleveland.
It was a rough start to the playoffs for Hanson, who already hurt himself when he hit a ball in batting practice that bounced off the plate and hit him in the area of his right eye Thursday night. Hanson allowed four runs and five hits in four innings.
The Braves scored in the sixth when Derrek Lee singled and went to second when Burrell bobbled the ball in left field for an error. McCann followed with a single that snapped a 24-inning postseason scoreless streak for the Braves, dating to 2005. It also ended a run of 28 straight scoreless innings for the Giants since the final weekend of the regular season.
The Giants wore their traditional Friday night orange jerseys as they have all season at home. San Francisco is 9-4 on "Orange Fridays" but lost the previous four times in the uniform. Despite the recent slump, the players chose to wear them for this game. It was a sea of orange at the game with many fans dressed in that color and others waving pompoms.
For the second straight night, Omar Infante opened the game with a hit for the Braves but Atlanta was unable to score. Cain also walked McCann with two outs but got out of the inning when Melky Cabrera grounded out. Infante was stranded at second after a leadoff double in the opener.
The most noteworthy play of the half-inning came right after Infante's single when Jason Heyward hit a popup in foul territory between third and home. Posey and third baseman Pablo Sandoval both went for the ball and had a jarring collision as Posey made the catch.
Both players fell to the ground in pain, but Posey managed to hang onto the ball. They both remained in the game after being checked out by the training staff.
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JOSH DUBOW 10/ 9/10 12:47 AM ET Associated Press