"With a new opponent in the opposite dugout and a fresh mindset on the mound, Tim Lincecum emphatically shook off his June swoon on Thursday.

Facing the Minnesota Twins for the first time, Lincecum had one of his best outings of the season, leading the Giants to a 2-1 victory in front of a sellout crowd at AT&T Park.

Lincecum entered the day with a 7.59 ERA in June but gave up just three hits and struck out 12 in seven scoreless innings. He got better as the game went on, striking out nine of the final 12 hitters he faced.

"His stuff was dynamite," catcher Chris Stewart said. "He was getting ahead and putting guys away from there, mostly with his slider. I'm glad I was catching him and not trying to hit him."

Lincecum struck out the side in the fifth and seventh innings and reached double-digit strikeouts for the fourth time this season and 30th time in his career while ending a four-start winless streak.

He went through a similarly bad stretch of starts last August but said the fix this time around was mental rather than physical.

"I feel like I've taken steps out of that hole that I was in mentally," said Lincecum, who evened his record at 6-6. "The biggest thing for me was keeping my confidence up.

"Early in the game when I was commanding the zone with my pitches, it just opened up my mind.""