PITTSBURGH -- Gerrit Cole wasnt feeling nervous in the hours leading up to his major league debut. And that made him nervous. "I couldnt understand it," Cole said. "It made me a little worried." Cole had nothing to be worried about as he took a shutout into the seventh inning and hit a two-run single in his first at-bat Tuesday night, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants in front of a festive crowd. The top pick in the 2011 draft, Cole allowed two runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings after being called up from Triple-A Indianapolis earlier in the day. He began his highly touted career with a three-pitch strikeout -- all 96 mph fastballs -- of Gregor Blanco and struck out two overall. He did not walk a batter. "Really, I couldnt have asked for anything better," Cole said. "The guys played great defence and we scored a lot runs. I was able to take us pretty deep into the game and I even got lucky and got a hit. Its tough to draw it up any better than this." Pedro Alvarez went 3 for 3 with a home run to back Cole. Starling Marte also homered and Andrew McCutchen and Russell Martin had two hits each. San Francisco put two runners on in the first and loaded the bases in the second against Cole (1-0) but failed to score in either inning. Cole then set down 13 in a row, starting with Marco Scutaros flyout to end the second. The Giants finally broke through in the seventh inning but the Pirates had built a 5-0 lead by then. "There was no deer-in-the-headlight look from him at all," Pirates second baseman Neil Walker said. "He worked quick, he worked efficiently, he threw strikes and that is all good things for a defence. Hes a lot more polished than a lot of guys who have gotten their start in the big leagues." Many of the 30,614 in attendance cheered every move made by the pitcher who is expected to be the Pirates ace of the future. The only time Cole seemed unsure is when he walked off the mound in the seventh inning and did not tip his cap. "I didnt want to draw attention to myself," Cole said. "I just wanted to put my head down and walk off but it felt great to have all the fans cheering and giving me such a great ovation." Cole certainly made an impression on the Giants. "We knew he had big-time talent and he showed it," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. "He had good command of his pitches, he located pretty well and did a good job of keeping us off balance with his breaking pitch to go with the fastball." The sizable crowd for a weekday game, though, caused problems for the organization, which instituted a new security measure for fans entering the stadium. The use of electronic wands slowed down the entrance procedure and Pirates President Frank Coonelly issued an apology during the game. "We made the decision several weeks ago to enhance the security at the gates beginning with tonights game, but unfortunately we failed in our preparation and execution. We stopped the wanding procedure at the start of the game and were able to clear the lines at the gates by the end of first inning," Coonelly said in a statement. "The experience was simply unacceptable and we will ensure this does not happen again." Tim Lincecum (4-6) gave up four runs -- two earned -- on seven hits in 4 2-3 innings while striking out four and walking two. It was the two-time Cy Young Award winners fourth loss in his last five starts. San Francisco reliever George Kontos, who gave up a two-run home run to Alvarez in the seventh inning, was ejected for hitting McCutchen with a pitch in rear end in the eighth. There were a total of four hit batters in the game. Cole snapped a scoreless tie when he lined a two-run single into right field in the second inning with one out and the bases loaded. Cole did not have hit during his two seasons in the minor leagues, going 0 for 6 with three strikeouts. "I got totally lucky there," Cole said with a grin. "Thats my first hit since high school. Its been a long time and I wasnt expected it." Martin, Alvarez and Walker singled to load the bases with no out. After first baseman Brandon Belt reached two rows into the stands to catch Clint Barmes foul pop, Cole delivered in his first plate appearance. Lincecum was knocked out during a two-run fifth that pushed Pittsburgh to a 4-0 lead. McCutchen walked with one and scored from first when right fielder Hunter Pence misplayed Garrett Jones single on a low liner for a two-base error. Jones then scored on Alvarezs infield. Martes solo home run, his sixth, made it 5-0 in the sixth. Three of the Giants first four batters in the seventh had hits, including pinch-hitter Tony Abreu, whose one-out RBI double broke up Coles shutout bid and ended his night. San Francisco closed to 5-2 when pinch-hitter Brett Pill drove in a run with a ground out. The Pirates answered with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to increase the lead to 8-2. Martin singled in a run and Alvarez hit his two-run homer, his 14th. "We put some pressure on (Cole) early but we just couldnt get the big two-out hits when we needed them," Bochy said. "We didnt take advantage of what opportunities we had." NOTES: San Francisco placed 3B Pablo Sandoval on the 15-day disabled list with a strained tendon in his left foot and recalled INF Nick Noonan from Triple-A Fresno. Arias started at third base. . Pittsburgh placed LHP Wandy Rodriguez on the 15-day DL with tightness in his left forearm to open a roster spot for Cole. RHP Charlie Morton, who had Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery last June, is expected to come off the DL and pitch Thursday against the Giants in Rodriguezs place. . Giants LHP Barry Zito (4-4, 4.06) faces Pittsburgh LHP Francisco Liriano (4-2, 1.75) on Wednesday night. Cheap Custom Sabres Jersey . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Authentic Custom Sabres Jersey . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. http://www.customsabresjersey.com/ . The Vikings announced Thursday that Priefer will be one of seven holdovers from the previous staff, along with offensive line coach Jeff Davidson, wide receivers coach George Stewart and others. Norv Turner will mark his 30th year of coaching in the NFL as the offensive co-ordinator, as widely reported for weeks, and George Edwards will be the defensive co-ordinator. Custom Tim Horton Jersey .C. -- Glenn Howard needed an extra end to move into the Masters Grand Slam of Curling final. Custom Sabres Jersey China . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury.ARDMORE, Pa. -- Even for Phil Mickelson, his path to the top of the leaderboard Thursday in the U.S. Open was unconventional. He travelled about 2,400 miles in the air and 7,000 yards on the ground. He took a short nap on his private jet from San Diego and another one during a rain delay when he found a secluded corner of the library room in the Merion clubhouse. He carried five wedges but no driver. Some 17 hours later, Mickelson had a 3-under 67 to take the clubhouse lead and match his best opening round in the U.S. Open. Luke Donald is actually ahead of Mickelson at 4-under but he only managed to finish13 holes on Thursday before play was suspended for the day due to darkness, making one last birdie before leaving the course. If you missed the days action you can catch the highlight show tonight on TSN2 at Midnight et/9pm pt. First round coverage will resume Friday morning on TSN at 8:30 am et/5:30 am pt. TSN.ca will deliver live streaming of the 11th and 18th holes, along with a daily marquee group. TSN Digital platforms will also feature up-to-the-minute news, daily highlights, as well as Bob Weeks popular golf blog. Weeks will also answer fan questions on Twitter through @bobatscoregolf, while TSN.ca will feature tweets from Weeks, Jim Nelford, the USGA, and the official Twitter feed of the U.S. Open. Every round is also available on TSN Radio 1050 in Toronto and TEAM 1410 in Vancouver, and the third and final rounds can be heard on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal and TEAM 1200 in Ottawa. Mickelson returned from his daughters eighth-grade graduation about 3 1/2 hours before his tee time. He three-putted his first hole for a bogey and didnt give back a shot the rest of the day at Merion, which proved plenty tough by yielding only one other round under par to the 78 players who completed the first round. Because of two rain delays, the first round wont be completed until Friday morning. Mickelson wont have to tee it up again for another 24 hours. Enough time to fly back to San Diego? "I dont want to push it, no," Mickelson said with a tired smile. Tiger Woods faced a tougher road. He appeared to hurt his left hand after trying to gouge out of the deep rough on the opening hole. He grimaced and shook his left wrist again after hitting a 5-wood out of the rough on the fifth hole. He already had three bogeys though five holes before starting to make up ground with a 50-foot birdie putt on the par-4 sixth hole. Woods, however, failed to take advantage on the short stretch of holes in the middle of the round, and he was shaking his hand again after shots out of the rough on the 10th and twice on the 11th. He was 2-over for his round and had a 4-foot par putt on the 11th when play was stopped for the day. "Ive got a lot of holes to play tomorrow," Woods said. "And, hopefully, I can play a little better than I did today." The first round was to resume at 7:15 a.m. Friday, and the forecast called for drier weather for the rest of the week. Masters champion Adam Scott, playing with Woods and Rory McIlroy, was 3-under through 11 holes, while defending U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson was 2-under through eight holes. McIlroy shot even par. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., shot a 2-over 72. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., shot a 75. Calgarys Ryan Yip is another shot back. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., finished his round with a 78. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., never even got to tee off. Lee Westwood got the full Merion experience. He was 3-under when his approach on the 12th hit the wicker basket -- the signature at Merion, replacing traditional flags -- and bounced off the green, leading to a double bogey. For Mickelson, this could be the start of yet another chance to win the major championship he wants so dearly. Or maybe hes setting himself up for more heartache. He already has been a runner-up a record five times in the U.S. Open. "If Im able -- and I believe I will -- if Im able to ultimately win a U.S. Open, I would say that its great," Mickelson said. "Because I will have had ... a win and five seconds. But if I never get that win, then it would be a bit heart-breaking." Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium, the only other player from the morning wave to break par, picked up birdies on the short seventh and eighth holes for a 69. Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, Tim Clark, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and Jerry Kelly were the only others who at least matched par at 70. Clark and Kelly were at 2 under deep in their rounds until running into trouble, which isnt hard to do in the U.S. Open, especially at Merion. Clark took a doouble bogey-bogey stretch in the middle of his back nine.dddddddddddd Kelly was one shot behind Mickelson until a double bogey on the 18th hole. "Its a lot tougher than they say it is," Schwartzel said. It doesnt take much -- just two holes for Sergio Garcia, who found Merion far more daunting than the few wisecracks from the gallery. Garcia received mostly warm applause, with some barely audible boos from the grandstand when he started his round on No. 11. It was his first time competing in America since his public spat with Woods took a bad turn when he jokingly said he would have Woods over for dinner during the U.S. Open and serve fried chicken. "There were a couple here and there," Garcia said about some jeers. "But I felt the people were very nice for the whole day. I think that almost all of them were behind me and that was nice to see." They saw him hit his tee shot out of bounds on No. 14 right before the first rain delay, leading to double bogey. Then, he hooked his next shot out of bounds and hit a bunker shot over the green on his way to a quadruple-bogey 8 at No. 15. Despite being 6-over on those two holes, he rallied for a 73. Mickelson, meanwhile, looked as though he could play this golf course in his sleep. And he nearly did. With two holes remaining, he hit 5-iron into 30 feet on the 237-yard ninth hole and told caddie Jim "Bones" Mackay that he was starting to hit the ball. Despite the constant smiling, Mickelson is intense inside the ropes, and Mackay told him to stop thinking about his swing, his next shot, the course or anything else related to golf during the walk to the green. Lefty rolled in the right-to-left breaking putt for another birdie. "Being able to tune in and tune out was kind of nice the last hole or two," Mickelson said. "Its been a long day." The only other time Mickelson opened with a 67 in the U.S. Open was in 1999 at Pinehurst No. 2, and his oldest daughter was part of that story, too. Mickelson carried a pager with him that week because his wife was due with their first child. He finished one shot behind when the late Payne Stewart holed a 15-foot par putt on the last hole, and Amanda was born the next day. Mickelson was always going to be home before the U.S. Open because Amanda, who turns 14 next week, was chosen to be a featured speaker at her graduation. He left Merion on Monday, a day earlier than planned, when more heavy rain washed out most of the practice round. Besides, Mickelson felt like he knew the course well enough from his scouting trip last week. "She told me that its fine. Stay, its the U.S. Open. I know how much you care about it. And I told her that I want to be there," Mickelson said. "I dont want to miss her speech. I dont want to miss her graduation. She spent nine years at that school. And shes worked very hard and Im very proud of her." The ceremony was at 6 p.m. PDT. Mickelson was on the plane two hours later, landing in Philadelphia about 3:30 a.m. He had a few hours of sleep on the plane, and then played five holes before the rain delay. He found a few cushions for a makeshift bed in the clubhouse library. Despite his four birdies, including a 25-foot putt that fell on its last turn at No. 1, Mickelson saved his round with some crucial pars. He missed the par-3 third green to the right, in fluffy grass down the hill, and hit a flop shot that landed on the collar and stopped 5 feet from the cup. He caught a break when his tee shot went into the hazard left of the fifth fairway, about a foot away from dropping into the small stream. He got that out, hit wedge to 8 feet and made a difficult right-to-left putt. And on the next hole, he swung hard to generate height and spin out of the bunker, the only way to get the ball close. He made an 8-footer for par. Mickelson hit 9-iron to 2 feet on the seventh hole for birdie, and holed that 30-foot putt on the ninth. And then, it was time to rest. "He had a crazy 24 hours," said Keegan Bradley, playing alongside Mickelson and Steve Stricker. "Sometimes that helps, not thinking about it." Upcoming U.S. Open coverage on TSN. Friday, June 14• 8:30am et – Conclusion of First Round • 3pm et – Second Round• 5pm et – Second Round• Midnight ET – First/Second Round Highlight Show (TSN2) Saturday, June 15• 11am et – Third Round Preview Show • Noon et – Third Round • Midnight et – Third Round Highlight Show Sunday, June 16• 11am et – Final Round Preview Show • Noon et – Final Round • Midnight et – Final Round Highlight Show ' ' '