Atlanta Braves’ Williams Perez.

MCT/San Francisco

For a full 30 seconds, with a sellout crowd waiting, Williams Perez stood on first base and tried. He tried some more. He couldn’t zip up his jacket.
This was a new experience for Perez, a rookie reliever whom the Atlanta Braves pressed into service in their rotation. He chopped an infield single in the sixth inning, the first base coach handed him an extra layer and Perez fiddled with the fastener before tossing the jacket back. It was the only time he admitted defeat all night.
Even the hottest teams can get stuck for nine innings, and the Giants’ six-game winning streak hit a snag with an 8-0 loss to Perez and the Braves at AT&T Park.
Tim Lincecum had trouble retiring leadoff batters while allowing four runs in 41/3 innings, the offence failed to muster a clutch hit and old friend Juan Uribe smacked his first home run in a Braves uniform while finishing a triple short of the cycle as the Giants lost for just the third time in 17 games.
Perez picked up his first big league win and hit in the span of one cool evening. He fired seven shutout innings and Lincecum (5-3) failed to keep pace, as his home streak of 22 scoreless innings hit a picket fence. The Braves scored single runs in the second through fifth innings while running up LIncecum’s pitch count_a reversal for the resurgent right-hander, who entered with a 1.13 ERA in five home starts this season.
The Braves eked out a run in the second inning on an infield hit that Brandon Crawford often turns into a pair of outs. Nick Markakis hit a leadoff single, Uribe walked and second baseman Joe Panik ranged to his right to glove Todd Cunningham’s grounder before slinging across his body for a force out at second base.
With runners at the corners, Andrelton Simmons hit a ground ball up the middle that skipped over Crawford’s glove for a single that scored Markakis. The ball might have been hit too slowly to turn two, although Simmons entered having grounded into 12 double plays this season_tied with Casey McGehee for the most in the majors.
Of course, Simmons also is the two-time defending NL Gold Glove winner at shortstop and threatens to be a longtime impediment to Crawford receiving the recognition as one of the game’s elite at the position. Last year, when Crawford made a dazzling play to take a hit away from Simmons, he acknowledged extra satisfaction in depriving a player with a sparkling defensive reputation.
Crawford wasn’t able to deny Simmons again, but he showed off his skills when the very next batter, Christian Bethancourt, hit a grounder to the left side. Crawford ranged far to his right and threw across his body to start a 6-4-3 double play.
The Braves made it 2-0 in the third inning when Jace Peterson singled, stole second base and took third as Andrew Susac bounced his throw into centre field for an error. Cameron Maybin followed with a ground ball single through the right side to drive in the run.
The defence might have let down Lincecum twice, but the next two runs he allowed were of his own making. Uribe led off the fourth with a double and scored when Lincecum pitched to Bethancourt with a base open and the pitcher on deck. If Lincecum was supposed to pitch around Bethancourt, he didn’t do a very good job. The .181-hitting catcher singled to score Uribe and give the Braves a 3-0 lead.
Another leadoff double, this time from Peterson in the fifth, set up the Braves’ fourth consecutive inning with a run. Freddie Freeman hit an RBI single and Lincecum was pulled after issuing a one-out walk to Markakis.
The Giants’ best chance against Perez came in the sixth when Hunter Pence reached on a fielder’s choice and went to third on Brandon Belt’s one-out single. But Crawford struck out and Angel Pagan grounded out. Pagan also tapped back to the mound to strand two runners in scoring position in the eighth.
Uribe, a Dodger until a multiplayer trade earlier in the week, put the game away in the ninth, when he hit a two-run shot off Jean Machi.