SAN FRANCISCO — Left fielder Tyler Colvin’s home debut as a San Francisco Giant was so impactful, it brought back memories of another left-handed slugger alongside the San Francisco Bay.
No, not Barry Bonds. Not even he homered and tripled in his first home game as a Giant.
Accomplishing a feat not performed since Darrell Evans did it in June of 1976, Colvin homered and broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run triple in the seventh inning, propelling the Giants to a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Monday night.
Even Colvin, called up from Triple-A Fresno just last Thursday, didn’t realize how powerful a performance he’d turned in Monday until well after teaming with right-hander Tim Lincecum to end Atlanta’s three-game winning streak.
“It didn’t bounce before it went in?” he said of a “Splash Hit” home run into San Francisco Bay — just the 65th in Giants history at AT&T Park — that opened the game’s scoring.
“To be a part of a winning ball club. Getting that hit there to help Timmy out … that’s a good feeling.”
The low-scoring affair was the fourth in a row in the matchup of two of the top four teams in the majors in ERA. The clubs combined for just 12 total runs when the Giants swept three from the Braves in Atlanta earlier this month.
In a pitchers’ duel between Lincecum and Braves righty Gavin Floyd, the score was tied at 1 when Colvin came to the plate with no outs in the seventh after catcher Hector Sanchez singled and shortstop Brandon Crawford reached on first baseman Freddie Freeman’s error.
Colvin, who was signed as a minor-league free agent by the Giants in February, expected to be called upon to bunt. He was surprised to hear differently.
“We had a talk,” he said of a brief word with Giants manager Bruce Bochy before coming to the plate. “I thought I was going to bunt. He said I was hitting.”
The strategy didn’t look so good for two pitches as Floyd quickly got ahead 0-2 in the count. But Colvin then turned on an off-speed, inside pitch, smacking a hard groundball over first base and into the right-field corner, easily scoring Sanchez and Crawford.
Colvin came in to score three pitches later when second baseman Brandon Hicks, also having fallen behind 0-2 in the count, lined an RBI single to center field for a 4-1 lead.
“Today was Tyler’s day,” insisted Lincecum, who was pretty darn impressive himself. “It’s nice to see him do that. Those hits really got the team amped up.”
Lincecum (3-2) and the Giants bullpen took it from there to complete the club’s 14th win in its last 18 games. San Francisco improved its overall record to 25-14, tops in the National League.
In the opener of a seven-game homestand, Lincecum gave up a fifth-inning solo homer to Braves center fielder B.J. Upton but only one other hit in 7 2/3 dominating innings. He struck out 11 and walked four while beating the Braves for the second time in 11 days.
The double-digit strikeout performance was the franchise-best 36th of Lincecum’s career. It was his first this season and third in his career against Atlanta.
“This guy has some arsenal,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez praised of Lincecum. “Today he had a fastball, a cutter, a slider and a split. We just couldn’t figure out when he was going to throw what.”
San Francisco right-hander Juan Gutierrez got the final out of the eighth inning. After left-hander Javier Lopez surrendered a solo homer to Freeman to open the ninth, closer Sergio Romo retired the next three Braves in order for his 13th save.
The Braves finished with two or fewer runs for the ninth time in their last 14 games.
“We didn’t have a lot of good at-bats off Lincecum,” Gonzalez lamented.
Making just his second start of the season, Floyd (0-1) matched Lincecum pitch for pitch for six innings before the fateful seventh. The only run he allowed before the seventh was Colvin’s solo homer to right field in the second inning.
Floyd wound up giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. He walked eight and did not walk a batter.
Upton, who also hit a double in the seventh inning, had both Braves hits before Freeman’s late homer in the opener of Atlanta’s six-game, two-city road trip.
Upton’s double set up what Gonzalez considered to be the biggest play of the game, one on which the Giants benefitted from a call reversal at third base with the score tied at 1 and one out in the top of the seventh.
Upton initially was ruled safe on a steal of third, but the Giants challenged the call, and after a 2-minute, 7-second review, he was called out.
Shortstop Andrelton Simmons then flied out to center field to end the inning.
“A game-changer,” Gonzalez assured. “They (the umpires) got it right. That’s what replay is there for.”
Center fielder Angel Pagan had three singles and two stolen bases for the Giants, who out-hit the Braves 9-3 en route to their 16th win of the season against a team .500 or better.
NOTES: Giants OF Tyler Colvin and Braves 1B Freddie Freeman both hit “Splash Hit” home runs into San Francisco Bay. The last time one game featured two such home runs was when OF Barry Bonds provided them both on May 18, 2002. … The Giants are 23-2 when RHP Tim Lincecum strikes out 10 or more in a game in his career. … Giants 1B Brandon Belt will have two screws surgically inserted into his broken left thumb Tuesday in a procedure done at the Stanford University Medical Center. Belt is expected to be out for six weeks. … The Giants reinstated LHP David Huff from the disabled list before the game, sending OF Juan Perez to Triple-A Fresno to create room on the active roster. Perez was batting .050 (1-for-20). … Braves CF B.J. Upton has five doubles and two home runs among his last eight hits. … Braves LF Justin Upton was back in the Atlanta lineup after having sat out Sunday’s win over the Chicago Cubs with a lower-back contusion. He was injured when hit by a pitch Saturday against the Cubs. … Braves starting pitchers are 1-for-14 at the plate since manager Fredi Gonzalez moved them to No. 8 in the batting order.