Cody Ross is quickly making a name for himself in the 2010 NLCS. Keeping the San Francisco Giants hopes of a World Series alive, Ross hit two solo homers off Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay, leading his Giants to a 4-3 win in Game 1 of the series.

Black-bearded Brian Wilson picked up the four-out save and stranded the tying run on base when he struck out Shane Victorino to end the game. Wilson pitched around two base runners and recorded all four of outs by strikeout.

Though the battle of the pitching aces didn’t materialize in Game 1, there was little shortage of drama as Tim Lincecum overcame the potent Phillies lineup and a hostile Philadelphia crowd to lead the Giants to their seventh consecutive Game 1 postseason win in a series. That streak dates all the way back to the 2000 NLDS. Although we didn’t see the dominant version of Lincecum like we saw in Game 1 of the ALDS when he two-hit shutout the Braves; he still gutted out a win.

The Philly crowd held signs reading, “Hippy Trash”, “This Guy Stinks,” ”Wanna Smoke?” and “Fix Your Teeth.” The raucous crowd didn’t stop there. They taunted and whistled at him but in the end, it was Lincecum who got the win and stole the home field advantage in the series.

When asked about the whistling, Lincecum laughed and responded:

“I was thinking I must have a really nice butt.”

With the game promoted as the biggest duel in a generation, right arms were the focal point at the beginning of the night and early on Halladay’s looked stronger. He retired the first seven Giants he faced before Ross’ third-inning shot into the left-field bleachers silenced the rabid crowd and sent a wave of confidence into the Giants dugout along with a 1-0 lead.

The Phillies responded in the bottom of the inning when catcher Carlos Ruiz hit a solo shot off Lincecum. The first three innings were littered with solid contact outs and base hits against Lincecum but Ross — acquired during one of GM Brian Sabean’s many trips to the all-you-can-eat-waiver-wire buffet — picked up his team’s diminutive ace.

Ross homered again in the fifth to the same area in left, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead. With that shot, Ross joined Jeff Kent, Rich Aurilia and Will Clark as the only San Francisco Giants to hit two homers in a playoff game.

The next game is Sunday with Jonathan Sanchez and Roy Oswalt taking the hump.

Used with permission of the author.

Theo is a staff reporter and feature writer for the Marin Independent Journal where he covers local prep and college sports. As an Associate Production Manager for ESPN, he helped produce Sunday Night Baseball among other national ESPN and ABC Sports telecasts. In addition to his contributions to Sports Climax, he is a columnist for Examiner.com and is the play-by-play voice for Sonoma State University baseball and softball.

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