lack of depth did them in in the first half. Although the

SAN FRANCISCO -- If Tim Lincecum wants to win without an overpowering fastball, he knows he will have to find his way through games when he is nowhere near his best. And he was nowhere near his best Friday night. And yet, he still won. Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Hicks homered to back a wildly effective Lincecum, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Minnesota Twins 6-2. "He was bobbing and weaving out there the whole game," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. Lincecum (4-3) struck out four and walked six in six innings. He allowed five hits and also had two wild pitches, escaping trouble in nearly every inning. Only 57 of Lincecums 112 pitches were strikes. "Youve got to battle when you dont have your best stuff, your best command. And today was just that," Lincecum said. "Its kind of an ugly win, but Ill take it. Joe Mauer and Chris Parmelee drove in Minnesotas only runs in the third. Sandoval hit a three-run shot in the first, Hicks hit his eighth homer off Kyle Gibson (4-4) in the fourth and drove in another run on a flyout in the seventh. Gibson gave up five runs and five hits in five innings, working quickly and in command for most of his 72-pitch outing. He struck out four and walked none. "I really got beat on three pitches, which is the frustrating part," Gibson said. San Francisco opened its six-game homestand with some pop at the plate and slick manoeuvring on the mound. Hunter Pence extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an infield single after Angel Pagan doubled leading off the first. Pence was originally ruled out, Bochy challenged the call and umpires overturned it after a 33-second video review. Pagan was thrown out at home on Buster Poseys grounder, but not before third baseman Trevor Plouffes throw pulled Brian Dozier off second on what wouldve been an inning-ending double play. Then, Sandoval sent the first pitch he saw over the brick wall in right to put the Giants ahead 3-0. It was Sandovals fifth home run this season. "I just focused and tried to calm myself down a little bit more," Sandoval said. Mauer hit an RBI triple and Parmelee drove in another run for Minnesota in the third to slice San Franciscos lead to 3-2. In the bottom of the inning, Pagan tripled and scored for San Francisco after shortstop Eduardo Escobar couldnt corral Pences grounder. Despite his lack of command, Lincecum kept the Giants in control. The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner, still searching for consistency as his fastball has faded in recent years, walked two and threw two wild pitches in the third without allowing a run. Sandoval fielded Gibsons grounder at third and threw out Escobar at the plate before Lincecum struck out Dozier to end the inning. In the fifth, Lincecum loaded the bases before getting Escobar to hit a weak groundout to first. Lincecums saved his smoothest inning for his final one, retiring the side in order before leaving to a standing ovation from the announced sellout crowd of 41,514. Left-hander Jeremy Affeldt tossed a scoreless seventh for the Giants. After Javier Lopez allowed two baserunners in the eighth, Jean Machi got pinch-hitter Josmil Pinto to ground into a double-play before pitching a perfect ninth for the save. "We were a little sloppy defensively and we missed plenty of opportunities to get some hits," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "A rough start for us here, and that team over there knows how to take advantage of you." NOTES: The Giants will wait until at least Saturday to decide if RHP Matt Cain, who strained his right hamstring Wednesday at Colorado, will make his next start Monday against the Chicago Cubs. Bochy said Cain "was bouncing around pretty good" in the clubhouse. ... Mauer and Posey, who have each won an MVP at catcher, both started at first base. ... Twins RHP Samuel Deduno (1-2, 3.53 ERA), originally slated to start Sunday, will take the mound on Saturday. Ricky Nolasco will pitch Sunday. ... Ryan Vogelsong (2-2, 3.62) goes for the Giants on Saturday and lefty Madison Bumgarner starts Sunday. Los Angeles Lakers Pro Shop . -- Matt Rupert scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the London Knights extended their win streak to nine games by defeating the Owen Sound Attack 4-3 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. Zach Norvell Jr. Jersey . Once again, the third baseman delivered in a big spot. Ramirez kept up his torrid hitting with a two-run homer to help back Wily Peraltas solid start, and the Brewers extended their winning streak to seven with a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night. https://www.lakersjerseycheap.com/1241j-avery-bradley-jersey-lakers.html .ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season. Stitched Lakers Jerseys . Behind the talents of rookie Johnny Gaudreau, the Flames will look to keep pace Thursday night when they face the Minnesota Wild in the second of a six-game homestand. Vern Mikkelsen Lakers Jersey .ca! Hi Kerry, The recent issues in the Boston-Pittsburgh game have highlighted a number of officiating, game control, and player sportsmanship aspects.It seems only fitting, with the ridiculous number of injuries this season, the Majors would be marking an anniversary of some note. This is the 100th season of the disabled list. It was first instituted in the National League in 1915. At that time, it was for 10 days. Now its seven days for a concussion, and 15 or 60 days if its a long term injury. I did a rough count and came up with 64 players currently out with injuries. But that list didnt include some of the players whove been out since Spring Training, including Tampa Bay lefty Matt Moore. It also doesnt include the myriad of banged up players listed as day-to-day. Going with the 64 figure though, that means just less than 10% of the 650 players on Major League rosters on any given day are hurt. Blue Jays fans know this only too well. This is the third straight season that is being scuttled in part because of injuries. In 2012, it was the Jays losing Kyle Drabek, Brandon Morrow, and Drew Hutchison, all in one fateful week in June. Last season it was Jose Reyes, Brett Lawrie, and Jose Bautista, just to name a few. Right now the Jays are dealing with injuries to their 4, 5, and 6 hitters in Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Lind and Lawrie, with no definitive timetable for their return. With the All-Star break rapidly approaching, you could actually put something close to an All-Star squad for each League made up of players on the DL or just listed as day-to-day. Lets start with the American League: (C) Matt Wieters- Orioles(1B) Edwin Encarnacion - Blue Jays or Joe Mauer- Minnesota(2B) Brett Lawrie- Blue Jays (OK maybe not quite an All-Star yet)(3B) Will Middlebrooks- Red Sox (Ditto)(SS) Yunel Escobar- Rays (defensively at least)(LF) Carlos Beltran- Yankees(CF) Michael Bourn- Indians(RF) Shane Victorino- Boston or Wil Myers- Rays(DH) Adam Lind- Blue Jays (Platoon at least) (SPs) Masahiro Tanaka- Yankees, C.C Sabathia- Yankees, Justin Masterson- Clevleand, C.J Wilson- Angels(Closer) Joel Hanrahan Detroit (not based on this season of couse) The National League squad may be even more impressive (C) Yadier Molina- Cardinals, Evan Gattis- Braves, or Caarlos Ruiz- Phillies(1B) Joey Votto- Reds(2B) Brandon Phillips- Reds(3B) Pablo Sandoval- Giants (not on DL, but cant straighten his arm due to elbow injury and is day-to-day)(SS) Chris Owings- Diamondbacks(LF)) Mark Trumbo- Diamondbacks(CF) A.dddddddddddd. Pollock- Diamondbacks(RF) Carlos Gonzalez- Rockies (SPs) Michael Wacha- Cardinals, Cliff Lee- Phillies, Josh Beckett-Dodgers(Closer) Aroldis Chapman- Reds (listed as day-to-day after a stint on the DL earlier in the season, when he took a line drive in the head.) I stretched it a bit calling some of these guys All-Stars, but Im sure you get the point. I dont really have any answers short of reducing the length of Spring Training and cutting back the regular season to 154 games, the way it used to be. Ditching interleague play to cut down on travel a bit more might be another solution. Sanchez growing with the Bisons Aaron Sanchez, who could be up with the Blue Jays at some point down the stretch or even used as trade bait, is still looking for his elusive first Triple A victory at Buffalo. Sanchez came up with a solid, and longer, outing Thursday night at home against Durham. He threw 83 pitches over six innings, but was saddled with a 3-2 loss that dropped his record to 0-2. Jeremy Moore tagged him for a long, game-winning two-run homer in the sixth but overall his numbers were pretty good. It was his third straight quality start: he gave up five hits, three runs (one unearned), walked two and struck out six. Jays begin crucial series with Rays At the beginning of the season, I actually felt Tampa Bay would win the AL East. Injuries and a lack of depth did them in in the first half. Although the Rays are still nine and a half back of front running Baltimore in the East and eight back of Seattle for the second Wild Card, they are now the second hottest team in the AL East next to the Os. Theyve won seven out of 10 and 10 out of 14. Theyre getting healthy again as well, outfielders Wil Myers and David DeJesus should be back in the next couple of weeks. The Rays could make some noise down the stretch, and thats why the Jays cant afford to be swept by them this weekend at Tropicana Field. In fact, if the Jays can win or sweep the series themselves, it could push the Rays right out of the race and turn them from potential buyers into sellers at that July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. Soriano DFAd I wonder if the Blue Jays will take a flyer on Alfonso Soriano, who was designated for assignment by the Yankees the other day. He can still hit lefties, something the Jays have struggled with all season long. ' ' '