PHILADELPHIA — When Pedro Martinez won his first Cy Young Award in 1997, Tim Lincecum was a 13-year-old high school freshman still learning his way around campus.

Now Lincecum is the defending NL Cy Young Award winner. But for as well as he pitched Thursday night, he and the Giants were hazed like underclassmen by a smart and seasoned opponent.
Martinez dominated the Giants for seven innings, yielded nothing after Eugenio Velez’s leadoff home run and struck out nine while pitching the Philadelphia Phillies to a 2-1 victory at Citizens Bank Park.
“It’s ridiculous how good his stuff still is,” said Lincecum, who grew up admiring Martinez as a fellow undersized pitcher. “He’s not just winging it up there. He’s pitching with a purpose to get guys out. That was apparent in the first three innings.”
It’s a mutual admiration society.
“He’s amazing — amazing,” Martinez said. “He reminds me a lot of me, but twice as better at the same time in the big leagues.”
Lincecum was near the top of his game, too, holding the Phillies to four hits in seven innings and striking out 11.
But he made three mistakes. The first was a hanging slider that Jayson Werth mashed for a second-deck home run in the second inning. Next was a wild fastball that plunked Chase Utley with two outs in the sixth. Then came Ryan Howard’s double that split the defenders in right-center field, allowing Utley to score the tiebreaking run.
If there was a fourth mistake, it wasn’t Lincecum’s fault. He couldn’t control the fact that he faced the NL’s best offensive team while Martinez went up against perhaps the worst situational hitting lineup in the league.
The Giants managed three other baserunners against Martinez, all doubles with one out or less. But they advanced just 90 feet among the three of them. The Giants were 0-for-9 with runners on base.
They held the potent Phillies to three runs in three games and still couldn’t win the series.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to get more runs if this is going to work,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “In a game like this, it takes a timely hit. The difference in a lot of these close games is execution. We just didn’t get it done.”
As a result, they failed to take advantage of two huge things: A Lincecum start and a chance to grab a share of the wild-card lead. They received a gift from the Mets and former Giant Pat Misch, of all people, who beat the Colorado Rockies for his first major league victory in his 55th career game.
“I don’t think we’re in a bad spot,” Lincecum said. “We’ve got to bounce back from this. I’ve said that after every loss.”
He’s been saying it a lot. The Giants were 12-6 behind Lincecum before the All-Star break. After it, they’re just 5-5.
The last time a Giants pitcher had gone seven or more innings, allowed four hits or fewer, struck out at least 11 and lost was April 26, 1968, when the Dodgers defeated Ray Sadecki.
The Giants had one last gasp against Phillies closer Brad Lidge, who has blown nine saves this season. Randy Winn grounded a two-strike, two-out single and stole two bases while Juan Uribe worked a walk.
Bochy picked Fred Lewis from among many options to pinch hit for Travis Ishikawa.
“I wanted somebody who wouldn’t chase the slider down,” Bochy said.
That narrowed his choices considerably — and no, it wasn’t deemed the right spot to give Buster Posey his major league debut.
Lewis grounded into a fielder’s choice to end it and the Giants jetted to Milwaukee, where they’re 4-14 over the past four seasons.