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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Giants go up 1-0 in NLCS

Ross belts two home runs; pitchers’ duel falls short

Ex-Cougs QB Jack Thompson, right, and son Tony raise  flag on Dads Day.  (Associated Press / Associated Press)
Rob Maaddi Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA – All those derisive whistles sounded like cheers to Tim Lincecum.

The Freak outdueled Roy Halladay, Cody Ross hit a pair of solo homers and the San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 Saturday night in the N.L. championship series opener.

In a mega-hyped matchup between marquee pitchers, neither starter came close to matching his sensational postseason debut last week. Both gave up homers to No. 8 hitters.

“It was big, it sets the pace for the series,” Lincecum said.

Halladay’s bid for a second straight no-hitter lasted until Ross connected with one out in the third inning.

Lincecum, who tossed a two-hitter in the division series, gave up three runs on homers to Jayson Werth and Carlos Ruiz in seven innings.

But Lincecum got the big outs when he needed them, and the Giants earned their fourth one-run win in the playoffs. The two-time N.L. champion Phillies lost their first series opener since getting swept by Colorado in 2007.

“I don’t think we can do nothing to bring this game back tonight,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “It’s a loss. So we come out (today), and we come out and play in that moment, try to win that game. That’s what we’ve got to do.”

Game 2 is tonight.

Pitching on nine days’ rest after the no-hitter against Cincinnati, Halladay didn’t have the same, dominant stuff. He allowed four runs and eight hits in seven innings.

“You find out what you’re made of. You never expect it to be easy,” Halladay said.

A day after Halladay’s gem, Lincecum had 14 strikeouts in San Francisco’s 1-0 win over Atlanta. He gave up six hits and struck out eight against the Phillies.

Lincecum, the reigning two-time N.L. Cy Young Award winner, had some adventures with a bat in his hands, though.

The notoriously tough Philly fans serenaded him with whistles when he batted in the fifth and seventh, presumably poking fun at his shaggy hair.

“I must have a really nice butt,” Lincecum said. “I was hearing a lot of them.”

Lincecum gave way to Javier Lopez, who got two outs in the eighth. All-Star closer Brian Wilson finished with a four-out save.

Ross, a Phillies nemesis, ripped a 2-0 pitch to the seats in left to give the Giants a 2-1 lead in the fifth. He was 3 for 16 off Halladay before taking him deep twice.

“It’s just awesome to be in this situation right now, to be able to come here and help this team where it wanted to be,” Ross said.

San Francisco got two key hits with two outs in the sixth to increase the advantage to 4-1. Halladay thought he struck out Pat Burrell to end the inning and walked off the mound after an 0-2 pitch only to return because plate umpire Derryl Cousins called it a ball. Burrell hit an RBI double on the next pitch – left fielder Raul Ibanez made a leaping attempt in front of the wall and the ball bounced out of his glove.

“Apparently, it was close,” Burrell said of the near strikeout. “I was just trying to get a good swing.”

Juan Uribe followed with an RBI single up the middle, scoring pinch-runner Nate Schierholtz to give the Giants a three-run cushion.

Philadelphia answered in the bottom half. Chase Utley hustled out an infield single and Werth hit a two-run shot to right-center and it was 4-3.

Halladay retired the first seven batters before Ross’ first homer.