Turner said. "Once again, we didnt help ourselves at the free-throw lin

SAN FRANCISCO -- Bruce Bochy remembered stressing out while watching Tim Lincecum labour through the final innings of his 148-pitch no-hitter at San Diego last July. The Giants manager said there was "no chance" of stretching out his starter again Wednesday, even after Lincecum logged five hitless innings. Not with a blister forming on the tip of Lincecums middle finger. Not with the Giants owning baseballs best record. And certainly, not with more than half of the season to play. Instead, Lincecum and five relievers combined on a weird two-hitter to lead the San Francisco Giants to a 5-0 win over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. "He worked so hard out there. It was time," Bochy said. The unconventional performance included 10 baserunners -- five walks, two hits, two errors and a hit batter -- before an announced sellout crowd of 41,186 at AT&T Park that wanted to cheer history. Lincecum struck out five, walked four and hit a batter in another wild but effective start. George Kontos (1-0) retired four straight before John Baker singled through the right side of the infield with one out in the seventh against lefty Jeremy Affeldt for Chicagos first hit. The Cubs hold the longest streak in the majors without being no-hit. The last time it happened to them was 1965, when Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game for the Dodgers. "Whats the cliche? Its a game of inches," Baker said. "I think the Chicago Cubs are proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that baseballs a game of inches." Hector Sanchez hit a two-run double, and three others drove in a run to help the Giants (34-19) extend the best record in the majors. San Francisco has won six of seven after holding the Cubs scoreless in consecutive games. Edwin Jackson (3-5) gave up two runs on four hits in 5 1-3 innings for the Cubs, who have not won a road series since last September. He struck out nine and walked two. But for most of a sunny afternoon along the bay, the focus remained on whether San Franciscos staff would complete an improbable no-hitter. Lincecum had a 32-pitch first inning that ended on Nate Schierholtzs sharp lineout to first baseman Buster Posey with runners on second and third. He tossed another 20 in the second and pitched a perfect third. The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner hit Schierholtz and overcame an error by shortstop Brandon Crawford on a grounder in the fourth. And after walking Emilio Bonifacio in the fifth, Lincecum got Junior Lake to ground into a double play. It was the second straight erratic outing for Lincecum. He walked six in six innings in San Franciscos 6-2 win over Minnesota last Friday. Lincecum said a tiny blister began forming on the tip of his middle finger in the third. He said its not serious, but he didnt want to risker further injury. And with a no-hitter on his resume already, he felt no need to lobby Bochy for another inning. "I think its just because I know what our bullpen is capable of," Lincecum said. "I just wanted to get the win today and put up some good numbers today, so it was good." Jean Machi got two outs on three pitches, Juan Gutierrez allowed a single to Anthony Rizzo in 1 1-3 scoreless innings and Javier Lopez recorded the final two outs in the ninth. San Francisco supplied support for the pitchers in the late innings. Pablo Sandoval and Tyler Colvin drove in a run in the sixth, and Sanchez hit a two-run double to highlight a three-run seventh that gave the Giants a 5-0 lead. Bochy said Sanchez will continue to catch Lincecum most of the season. He said the move is made, in part, to save Posey from the bumps and bruises that often come with catching Lincecum. "We have a good relationship," Sanchez said, "and we work well together." NOTES: Giants RHP Matt Cain, who missed his last start with a strained right hamstring, threw a bullpen session and is on schedule to make his next start Saturday at St. Louis. ... The Cubs have Thursday off before beginning a three-game series at Milwaukee on Friday. ...RHP Ryan Vogelsong (3-2, 3.20 ERA) starts for the Giants in the opener of a four-game series at St. Louis on Thursday. Gerardo Parra Jersey . Of course that doesnt mean hes ignoring it. Thats actually rather impossible given the behind-the-scenes access to the Toronto Maple Leafs the network is getting. Charlie Blackmon Jersey .5 million, two-year contract that runs through 2015. Venable, the son of former big leaguer Max Venable, will make $4. http://www.rockiesgearproshop.com/Rockies-Bryan-Shaw-Kids-Jersey/ . Orlov, who scored two goals in the game, was assessed a major penalty for boarding on the play. The Flyers scored once on the power play and again with the extra attacker with 65 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime. Tony Wolters Jersey . The Marlies centre set up three goals, including the game-winner, as Toronto cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Oklahoma City Barons in American Hockey League action. Ryan McMahon Jersey . -- New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft wanted to keep Logan Mankins with the team for a long time. DALLAS -- Monta Ellis dribbled near midcourt with the clock winding down in a sluggish first half for the Dallas Mavericks. He made a pullup jumper off that isolation play, triggering a big finish for Dallas new playmaker. Ellis scored 24 points, including 13 in the third quarter when Dallas took its first lead, and the Mavericks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 97-94 Monday night. Ellis had 19 points in the second half and added a game-high 10 assists and two of Dallas 11 blocked shots. "I dont think I was being aggressive enough in the first half," said Ellis, who has scored at least 18 points in all 11 games with the Mavericks, the longest streak to start a career in Dallas. "We werent clicking as a team. They took us out of our game." Two nights after a 37-point loss in New Orleans and playing without budding star Michael Carter-Williams for the fourth straight game because of a foot injury, the Sixers held the Mavericks scoreless for the first 5 minutes and led by 10 in the first half. Even after losing its lead for good late in the third quarter, Philadelphia stayed close behind Evan Turner, Tony Wroten and some late 3-pointers from James Anderson. Turner had 26 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while Wroten had 19 points and five steals. The Sixers were down six with just 30 seconds left, but one of 20 Dallas turnovers kept them alive. The outcome wasnt settled until the Mavericks inbounded with 4.8 seconds left and Shawn Marion had a breakaway dunk that came just after the final buzzer, leaving the final margin at three. "I thought we battled and showed a lot of heart to come back from arguably our worst performance in New Orleans, and we lost to a good team," Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said. Dirk Nowitzki and Marion had 20 points apiece for the Mavericks, who began a stretch of seven of nine games in Dallas. Nowitzki had 10 rebounds, and Marion chipped in seven. The Mavericks pulled even twice in the third quarter before finally taking their first lead when Vince Carter knocked the ball loose as Hollis Thompson was going up for a layup. Jae Crowder ended up with the ball on a breakaway but gave it up to Marion for the dunk and a 70-69 Dallas lead with 1:44 remaining. Philadelphia had the ball dowwn just 90-87 in the fourth, but Samuel Dalembert had one of his three blocks on a drive by Turner.dddddddddddd Jose Calderon was wide open for a short jumper on the other end but passed before getting the ball back beyond the arc and hitting for a 93-87 lead. Calderon had 14 points and was 4 of 10 from long range. Coming off the bench for the first time this season, Dalembert also had eight points and a game-high 14 rebounds. "I explained the situation this morning," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "He was great about it. Its a case of a guy who didnt let that affect him. He came in and he was a big factor." Anderson finished with 14 points, including 3-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. Thaddeus Young struggled from the field at 6 of 18 but still finished with a double-double at 12 points and 11 rebounds. Spencer Hawes had 10 points and 11 boards. The Sixers shot just 38 per cent and made only 12 of 22 free throws, numbers best illustrated by a sequence of three missed shots, four missed free throws and four offensive rebounds all in the same possession when they trailed 86-81 midway through the fourth quarter. "I think we played our hearts out," Turner said. "Once again, we didnt help ourselves at the free-throw line but we just have to keep up the intensity." Ellis didnt get his first basket until the 2:12 mark of the second quarter. But it wasnt because he was missing. He was just 2 of 4 from the field before halftime. Carlisles move to replace Dalembert, his centre, with Crowder, a forward, in the starting lineup backfired at first. Crowder went 0 for 5 with two turnovers while Dallas went scoreless in the first 5 minutes before Nowitzki hit a baseline jumper after Marion rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Crowder, who scored two points on 1-of-8 shooting but did have six rebounds. NOTES: Dallas rookie PG Shane Larkin made his NBA debut late in the first quarter, four months after breaking his right ankle in the final practice before summer league. He immediately had a steal, and his first assist was on a bucket by Nowitzki. He finished three points, three assists and three steals. ... The teams combined for 12 missed shots to start the game before Turner hit a jump shot with 9:10 left in the first quarter. ' ' '