Forget about calling it the bullpen. Giants relievers hang out at the K Corral.

They combined for 13 strikeouts over eight scoreless innings and kept the San Diego Padres at bay long enough to pull out a 6-5, 14-inning victory at AT&T Park on Wednesday.

Nate Schierholtz won it with his second home run of the game, a high fly ball that barely reached the top of the brick wall in right field leading off the bottom of the 14th. Padres reliever Pat Neshek walked off the mound shaking his head in disbelief.

It was the Giants’ 10th walk-off victory this season and the first career multi-homer game for Schierholtz.

He got the hero’s welcome, with players mobbing him at home plate. But it was the Giants relievers who cleared his path.

“They won the game for us,” manager Bruce Bochy said after the 3-hour, 52-minute epic. “They gave us a chance when we were down, and then they held it there.”

The Giants improved to 8-5 in extra innings. Despite their season-long offensive woes, they moved to two games ahead of Arizona in the National League West.

San Diego, meanwhile, mounted nothing but a steady breeze against the Giants bullpen. Brian Wilson and Sergio Romo, for example, combined to strike out seven of the 14 batters they faced.

In all, the Giants tied the ballpark record for K’s. That’s 19 strikeouts — and one walk-off.

“That home run could not have come at a better time,” Bochy said. “That was a hard-fought

game.”

It was the last of several well-timed hits for the Giants. They tied it at 5-5 in the eighth when their hottest hitter came up at the right time. Pablo Sandoval blasted a two-run double, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 17 games.

Hitting left-handed against right-handed reliever Mike Adams, Sandoval smoked a ball deep into the right-center alley to drive home Andres Torres from third and Brandon Crawford from first.

As Sandoval pulled into second base, he spread out his arms wide, like an eagle, then clapped his hands in triumph.

Sandoval deserved credit for a save in the top of the ninth when the Padres threatened against Wilson. San Diego had runners at the corners and one out. Wilson took care of Chase Headley on his own, getting a fastball for a swinging strike three, but Ryan Ludwick lashed a ball down the third-base line.

Sandoval dived to his right to snare Ludwick’s hot shot, then threw across the diamond for the final out of the inning.

The late flurry of action, predictably, took place too late to do any good for Madison Bumgarner. The Giants made it an astounding 18th consecutive game at AT&T Park without scoring more than three runs with Bumgarner on the mound.

Bumgarner gave up five runs in six innings — but he knew he had to be better. This was a matchup between a pair of starters with the National League’s worst run support. Dustin Moseley was getting 2.21 runs per nine innings from the Padres while in games; Bumgarner was getting 2.74.

But it would be untrue to say Bumgarner got no support Wednesday. Andres Torres helped him with a sensational play to rob Jesus Guzman of extra bases in the top of the sixth. Guzman blasted a ball toward the 399-foot mark in center field. Torres sprinted with his back to the plate, turned to find the ball slicing behind him and caught it with an outstretched glove.

Torres also finished 3 for 6 with two doubles and two runs. His big game came a night after being irritated by Padres reliever Chad Qualls, who spiked the ball after tagging him out.

“I’ve said it before: Sometimes it’s good to play angry,” Bochy said. “Sometimes that’s a good thing. He felt like (last night) was personal. What was important is that he handled it.”

Symbolically, Tim Lincecum walked to the mound against Cincinnati on Saturday as the Giants’ last line of defense against the forces of panic and despair.

It’s not quite fair to pile all that responsibility upon anybody’s shoulders in any single game in June, but there it was.

Freddy Sanchez had just gone down to a serious shoulder injury. Buster Posey has been down and out for a few weeks, of course.

The season is still young, and the Giants are still clinging to first place in the National League West.

But if the Giants were going to have a chance to feel halfway good about themselves this weekend, Lincecum was the one who had to start the party music.

And it did not happen.

Instead, after the Reds’ 10-2 victory at AT&T Park, there was mostly thick silence in the Giants’ clubhouse.

“It’s not about carrying the team, it’s just being a large aspect of it, and doing your job,” Lincecum said after giving up seven earned runs in four-plus innings, one of the worst outings of his glorious career.

“And I didn’t do mine today.”

What happens to the defending World Series champions if they can’t hit, if they don’t have Posey, and if Lincecum isn’t on top of his game?

We saw it Saturday — the sense of anxiety was a tangible presence amid the murmuring and the head-scratching in the stands.

Lincecum has done so much for this franchise, when he doesn’t deliver, the air gets mighty arid.

“I

know it looked bad today,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We were off. Had a horrible game. This doesn’t happen very often. It just so happens it comes right after Freddy’s injury. These guys don’t make excuses.

“These guys, they’re not making excuses. “… It’s up to us to keep fighting. And these guys will.”

Usually, the charge starts with Lincecum, of course.

But this was the fourth consecutive — and easily the worst — sluggish outing for the two-time Cy Young winner, all dating to May 21, when Lincecum shut out the A’s.

In that game, Lincecum threw a season-high 133 pitches; that also was his last start before the Giants lost Posey, Lincecum’s trusted catcher, to a devastating ankle injury in late May.

In his four starts since, Lincecum has a 7.66 ERA, and his season ERA has gone from 2.06 to his current 3.41.

Lincecum had a similarly wobbly period last August, when he acknowledged some adjustment issues going from Bengie Molina to Posey behind the plate.

By last September, though, Lincecum was in lock step with Posey and was nearly perfect through the fall.

Right now, Lincecum is about as far from his September-October dominance as he can get.

“I still feel strong,” Lincecum said. “I don’t feel unhealthy. I don’t feel like anything’s bothering me. It’s just simply getting back to being me. Just driving to the plate, using the mechanics, keeping my rhythm.

“Kind of dumbifying myself, I guess you could say “… keeping it simple.”

Lincecum was all over the place from the outset, and the Reds were disciplined enough to make him pay; he threw 73 total pitches, only 36 for strikes.

He recorded only one strikeout, which, remarkably, is the lowest total of his career. In 136 previous outings (135 as a starter) — Lincecum had never recorded fewer than two strikeouts and had averaged 7.4 strikeouts per appearance.

That 133-pitch outing, in retrospect, sticks out like a sore statistical thumb.

“I don’t feel like it’s fatigue,” Lincecum said when asked about the effects of the May 21 game. “I don’t feel like I’m getting tired. I don’t feel like anything’s broken. I just feel like it’s a matter of just getting back to being me.”

That, perhaps, could suggest Lincecum has been thinking a little more on the mound now that he’s throwing to Eli Whiteside, not Posey.

In the third inning, there might have been a sign of some disconnect — with a runner on third, Lincecum threw a darting off-speed pitch that hit the dirt but looked stoppable.

Whiteside missed the ball, it skipped to the backstop, Brandon Phillips scored, putting the Reds up 3-0 and putting a scowl on Lincecum’s face.

Has the catcher change affected Lincecum at all?

“Not really,” Lincecum said. “Not at all. I mean, when you go out there, whether it’s with Whitey or (Chris) Stewart, you have to go out there and make pitches.”

Bochy said he continues to have the utmost confidence in Whiteside but added that he might get Stewart in there with Lincecum if the schedule works out right.

You count up all of the Giants’ woes, and you do have to ask: How much has to go wrong for them to be knocked out of first place?

At some point, it probably will come down to Lincecum, the Giants’ other key pitchers, and the refortifying of their last line of defense.

Read Tim Kawakami’s Talking Points blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami. Contact him at tkawakami@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5442.

Symbolically, Tim Lincecum walked to the mound against Cincinnati on Saturday as the Giants’ last line of defense against the forces of panic and despair.

It’s not quite fair to pile all that responsibility upon anybody’s shoulders in any single game in June, but there it was.

Freddy Sanchez had just gone down to a serious shoulder injury. Buster Posey has been down and out for a few weeks, of course.

The season is still young, and the Giants are still clinging to first place in the National League West.

But if the Giants were going to have a chance to feel halfway good about themselves this weekend, Lincecum was the one who had to start the party music.

And it did not happen.

Instead, after the Reds’ 10-2 victory at AT&T Park, there was mostly thick silence in the Giants’ clubhouse.

“It’s not about carrying the team, it’s just being a large aspect of it, and doing your job,” Lincecum said after giving up seven earned runs in four-plus innings, one of the worst outings of his glorious career.

“And I didn’t do mine today.”

What happens to the defending World Series champions if they can’t hit, if they don’t have Posey, and if Lincecum isn’t on top of his game?

We saw it Saturday — the sense of anxiety was a tangible presence amid the murmuring and the head-scratching in the stands.

Lincecum has done so much for this franchise, when he doesn’t deliver, the air gets mighty arid.

“I

know it looked bad today,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We were off. Had a horrible game. This doesn’t happen very often. It just so happens it comes right after Freddy’s injury. These guys don’t make excuses.

“These guys, they’re not making excuses. “… It’s up to us to keep fighting. And these guys will.”

Usually, the charge starts with Lincecum, of course.

But this was the fourth consecutive — and easily the worst — sluggish outing for the two-time Cy Young winner, all dating to May 21, when Lincecum shut out the A’s.

In that game, Lincecum threw a season-high 133 pitches; that also was his last start before the Giants lost Posey, Lincecum’s trusted catcher, to a devastating ankle injury in late May.

In his four starts since, Lincecum has a 7.66 ERA, and his season ERA has gone from 2.06 to his current 3.41.

Lincecum had a similarly wobbly period last August, when he acknowledged some adjustment issues going from Bengie Molina to Posey behind the plate.

By last September, though, Lincecum was in lock step with Posey and was nearly perfect through the fall.

Right now, Lincecum is about as far from his September-October dominance as he can get.

“I still feel strong,” Lincecum said. “I don’t feel unhealthy. I don’t feel like anything’s bothering me. It’s just simply getting back to being me. Just driving to the plate, using the mechanics, keeping my rhythm.

“Kind of dumbifying myself, I guess you could say “… keeping it simple.”

Lincecum was all over the place from the outset, and the Reds were disciplined enough to make him pay; he threw 73 total pitches, only 36 for strikes.

He recorded only one strikeout, which, remarkably, is the lowest total of his career. In 136 previous outings (135 as a starter) — Lincecum had never recorded fewer than two strikeouts and had averaged 7.4 strikeouts per appearance.

That 133-pitch outing, in retrospect, sticks out like a sore statistical thumb.

“I don’t feel like it’s fatigue,” Lincecum said when asked about the effects of the May 21 game. “I don’t feel like I’m getting tired. I don’t feel like anything’s broken. I just feel like it’s a matter of just getting back to being me.”

That, perhaps, could suggest Lincecum has been thinking a little more on the mound now that he’s throwing to Eli Whiteside, not Posey.

In the third inning, there might have been a sign of some disconnect — with a runner on third, Lincecum threw a darting off-speed pitch that hit the dirt but looked stoppable.

Whiteside missed the ball, it skipped to the backstop, Brandon Phillips scored, putting the Reds up 3-0 and putting a scowl on Lincecum’s face.

Has the catcher change affected Lincecum at all?

“Not really,” Lincecum said. “Not at all. I mean, when you go out there, whether it’s with Whitey or (Chris) Stewart, you have to go out there and make pitches.”

Bochy said he continues to have the utmost confidence in Whiteside but added that he might get Stewart in there with Lincecum if the schedule works out right.

You count up all of the Giants’ woes, and you do have to ask: How much has to go wrong for them to be knocked out of first place?

At some point, it probably will come down to Lincecum, the Giants’ other key pitchers, and the refortifying of their last line of defense.

Read Tim Kawakami’s Talking Points blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami. Contact him at tkawakami@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5442.

Burrell making best of his time on bench

Pat Burrell provided one of the more heartwarming stories of the offseason, when his love of being a Giant was so great that he practically signed a blank contract with no guarantee of playing time.

The reality of being glued to the bench is much different, though. Burrell has started just five of the past 14 games. Is he pining to get off the pine?

“It’s been all right. I signed up for it,” he said. “There was no guarantee for me last year, either. And really, there shouldn’t be for anyone on any team. If you play well, you’re going to play. If not, you more than likely won’t.”

Burrell entered Wednesday with a .233 average and 39 strikeouts in 116 at-bats, although his .346 on-base percentage was more respectable. He also was 0 for 6 as a pinch hitter but drew an important walk in the ninth to load the bases and sustain a rally Tuesday night.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Burrell stopped by his office Tuesday afternoon to remind Bochy that he was a .375 hitter against Florida Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco. But that’s as far as Burrell will take his lobbying efforts.

“He’s been one of the best I’ve seen, considering his track record in this league,” Bochy said. “He’s such a great teammate. When he’s not in there, he’s in the dugout pulling for guys and helping them. He’s understanding of our situation, and he stays ready.”

During last year’s

run to the World Series, Burrell helped to keep the clubhouse from tensing up. He is preaching calm now, even though the club has scored the fewest runs in the National League.

“Last year at this time, I was just getting here,” said Burrell, who was released by the Tampa Bay Rays before signing a minor league deal with the Giants last season. “From everything I hear, it was pretty similar. We’ll find our stride.”

Tim Lincecum fired a three-hit shutout and retired 21 consecutive batters through the middle of the game Saturday as the Giants beat the A’s 3-0 at AT&T Park.

The Giants’ ace surrendered a single to Ryan Sweeney between first and second base in the opening inning, then didn’t allow another base runner until Landon Powell stroked a two-out single to right in the eighth.

Lincecum (4-4) continued his career mastery of the A’s, striking out six while not walking a batter. He is now 5-0 against them in six career starts with three complete games and a 1.17 ERA.

The Giants provided the only run Lincecum needed in the bottom of the first inning. Andres Torres opened the frame with a walk and went to third on Freddy Sanchez’s double to right-center. Buster Posey’s groundout to second scored Torres.

The Giants added two insurances run for Lincecum, who threw a season-high 133 pitches, in the bottom of the eighth. Posey, who had two hits and extended his hitting streak to 10 games, singled to open the inning against Oakland’s fourth pitcher, Brad Ziegler. He moved to second on a Pat Burrell groundout and scored on Cody Ross’ sharp single to left. Aubrey Huff’s single to right moved Ross to third, and Miguel Tejada’s sacrifice fly to center brought him home.

A’s starter Brett Anderson (2-4) was the tough-luck loser. He gave up a lone run on five hits and a walk over the first five innings and struck out five.

The most momentous

event for Oakland came in the sixth inning, when right-handed reliever Joey Devine, recalled from Triple-A on Friday, made his first major league appearance since Sept. 28, 2008, after a long recovery from Tommy John elbow surgery. Devine pitched a scoreless inning in the A’s fourth straight defeat.

The Giants, who widened their lead in the National League West to 21/2 games over second-place Colorado, have won eight straight games at AT&T Park and have also beaten Oakland eight straight in their home park dating back to 2009.