Giants ace Tim Lincecum shuts out Braves with a two-hitter

Roy Halladay threw a no-hitter. Tim Lincecum might have done him one better.

Not in the headlines, of course. In degree of difficulty, however, Lincecum might have aced his rival ace.

Lincecum pitched a two-hitter and struck out 14, carrying the San Francisco Giants to a 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the National League division series Thursday at AT&T Park.

“It’s hard to judge what better might be,” Lincecum said. “If you come out on top, I think that’s good.”

All of that brilliance might not have been enough for Lincecum to prevail, but for a critical umpiring error. Buster Posey, called safe at second base in the fourth inning when replays indicated he was out, came around to score what turned out to be the lone run of the game.

Philadelphia’s Halladay got four runs of support in his no-hitter, all in the first two innings. Lincecum, with no margin for error, reminded the nation that he — not Halladay, and not Texas’ Cliff Lee — is the pitcher with back-to-back Cy Young awards on his resume.

“Everyone knows that first run — or any run — is big,” Lincecum said.

Lincecum’s 14 strikeouts set a postseason franchise record, for a franchise that opened for business in 1883.

“I don’t know how many he struck out, but it was more than the fingers on my hand,” Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox said.

In his postseason debut — and in the Giants’ first playoff game in seven years — Lincecum dominated from start to finish. With his 119th and final pitch — a 92-mph fastball — Lincecum struck out Derrek Lee for the third time.

Lincecum struck out five consecutive batters at one point, did not give up a hit between the first and seventh innings and never permitted a runner to reach third base.

He tamed the Braves less with velocity — his fastball topped out at 93 mph — than with pitches that Atlanta catcher Brian McCann said were “darting everywhere.” In the second inning, Lincecum struck out the side on nine swinging strikes.

“You think you put a pretty good swing on it, and all of a sudden it’s by you,” Atlanta infielder Brooks Conrad said.

The Giants’ run was tainted. In the fourth, as Pat Burrell struck out, the Braves appeared to have completed a double play by throwing out Posey attempting to steal second base. But umpire Paul Emmel called Posey safe, and from there he scored on a two-out single by Cody Ross. “I guess it’s a good thing we don’t have instant replay right now,” Posey said.

Emmel said after the game that he had not yet reviewed the replay.

“I saw him safe,” Emmel said, “That’s what I called.”

The Braves did not protest at the time and were muted in their complaints after the game, in part because they could have prevented the run anyway.

The single by Ross was a ground ball that could have been fielded by third baseman Omar Infante, playing in place of the injured Chipper Jones. Infante appeared to get caught between hops, then tried to field the ball to his side as it took a high hop.

In his postgame news conference, Cox did not refer to the play as an unfortunate hit, or any other kind of hit. He called the play “an error” and later said Infante “kicked the ball.”

That was the game, and what a marvelous game it was for Lincecum. He could not be rattled, even when plate umpire Dana DeMuth summoned him after the second inning. “He told me to take my bracelet off,” Lincecum said.

If the Braves face Lincecum again, they’ll have to do better than that.

bill.shaikin@latimes.com