MLB: Giants' Fil-Am pitcher Lincecum fires no-hitter

SAN DIEGO - Tim Lincecum threw a no-hitter as the San Francisco Giants coasted to a 9-0 rout of the San Diego Padres before 40,342 fans at Petco Park on Saturday night (Sunday, PHL time).

Lincecum retired Yonder Alonso on a fly ball to left to record the 15th no-hitter in Giants history.

Lincecum (5-9) struck out 13 and walked four on 148 pitches. He also hit San Diego's Jedd Gyorko with a pitch.

It was the second time this season that Lincecum had at least 10 or more strikeouts, the last time coming against the New York Mets on July 8 when he fanned 11.

Hunter Pence homered and drove in five runs and also kept Lincecum's no-hitter alive with a diving catch of a sinking liner by Alexi Amarista to right to end the eighth inning.

Brandon Belt homered and had three RBIs as the Giants' offense hammered Padres pitching for the second consecutive game. The Giants posted a 10-1 rout on Friday night.

Edinson Volquez (6-8) was tagged for eight runs and nine hits on 107 pitches (69 for strikes) in five innings. He struck out six and walked one.

The Giants (43-50), who won their third in a row, can sweep the four-game series Sunday with a win over the reeling Padres (41-54), who dropped their 14th game in 15 outings and their 18th out of the last 21.

Pablo Sandoval's RBI double to right center with two outs in the first scored Buster Posey for a 1-0 Giants lead.

In the fourth, the Giants added three runs. Posey led off with a ground-rule double to left and scored on a groundout by Pence for a 2-0 advantage with one out.

Belt followed and drilled a 2-2 pitch by Volquez 414 feet into the sandbox in right center for a two-run homer and a 4-0 Giants lead. It was Belt's 10th home run of the season.

Pence's bases-clearing triple with two outs in the fifth increased the Giants' lead to 7-0. Belt singled home Pence for another run in the inning. - Reuters