Lincecum does it with his bat and his arm as Giants blast Dodgers 9-0

Tim Lincecum scattered four hits over six innings and had three hits and three RBIs, leading the San Francisco Giants to a 9-0 victory over the sloppy Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. (view box score)

Lincecum (3-0) struck out seven and walked two. The two-time Cy Young winner has allowed just two runs over 20 innings in his first three starts. But it was at the plate where he made the biggest impression.

Lincecum got all three of his RBIs against knuckleballer Charlie Haeger before the Dodgers got their first hit against the All-Star right-hander as the Giants built an early 5-0 lead (watch video highlights of Lincecum spanking Dodgers pitching). He had only three RBIs last season in 66 at-bats.

He drove in batterymate Bengie Molina with San Francisco’s first run, pushing a bunt single past the mound in the second inning. In the third, Lincecum came up with the bases loaded and stroked a two-run single to right-center.  Lincecum finished 3-for-4 and is batting .429 on the season.  Wait on this, Joe Torre.

Dodgers manager Joe Torre fielded a lineup that was missing catcher Russell Martin (0 for 13 against Lincecum), third baseman Casey Blake (0 for 9) and shortstop Rafael Furcal (3 for 14). As a result, they were quite vulnerable on defense — and it showed.

Errors by reserve shortstop Jamey Carroll and backup catcher A.J. Ellis — who also committed a passed ball in the inning that enabled Nate Schierholtz to score — helped the Giants score four runs in the third.

The Giants increased the margin to 7-0 in the fourth with Molina’s bloop RBI single and Juan Uribe‘s sacrifice fly. They completed the scoring in the seventh with an RBI double by Eugenio Velez (watch video) and a sacrifice fly from Edgar Renteria.

Haeger (0-1) retired only eight of the 22 batters be faced, throwing 94 pitches in three-plus innings. The right-hander was charged with seven runs — five earned — seven hits and five walks, and also hit a batter.

Giants center fielder and leadoff hitter Aaron Rowand was out of the lineup, one day after a fastball from Dodgers right-hander Vicente Padilla left him with two small broken bones in his left cheekbone and a mild concussion (watch video of Rowand getting beaned). Left fielder Mark DeRosa was removed from the game in the fourth for a pinch-hitter after straining his right hamstring.

Garret Anderson started in left field for Manny Ramirez, who left Friday’s series opener with tightness in his right calf — but had a scheduled day off, anyway.

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