Lincecum outduels Halladay

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 NL 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.

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 NL 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 tomorrow, 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. Jonathan Sanchez tries to send the Giants back to San Francisco just two wins from their first World Series appearance since 2002. Roy Oswalt goes for the Phillies.

Halladay threw the second no-hitter in postseason history in a 4-0 win over Cincinnati in the first-round opener. The only runner he allowed was a fifth-inning walk to Jay Bruce.

Pitching on nine days’ rest, 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.