Short post tonight. Long day with the family, but full post coming back tomorrow!
Before tonight's start, nobody knew what to expect when Tim Lincecum took the ball every fifth day. Tonight, Lincecum was able to feed off his last start and put it together to pick up his 13th victory of the year. Although he gave up 3 runs in 6 2/3, he only allowed 5 hits, walked none, and struck out 11. With his second quality start in a row (a small sample size), it's hard to say that Lincecum (13-9) is back, especially for Lincecum's standards, but it definitely was a good sign. To illustrate how awful he was in August, he went 0-5 with 7.82 ERA, but in September, he is off to a good start. The numbers this month look like this: 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA. But the question is, can he continue. We will see Sunday in San Diego.
The Giants' offense showed up tonight. The scoring started in the first with a lead-off double from the struggling Andres Torres. Next batter Freddy Sanchez grounded him over to third. With a runner at third with 1 out, Aubrey Huff went deep for his 23rd home run of the year, making it 2-0 Giants. Buster Posey then promptly ripped a double to deep center and was singled home by Jose Guillen. The Giants took their 3-0 lead into the Fifth, until Freddy Sanchez hit an opposite field homer to right, extending the Giants' lead to 4-0. The scoring for the Giants reached its max the next inning when Posey singled and Pat Burrell crushed a long home run to left, his 14th as a Giant.
For the DBacks, all 3 of their runs were scored against Tim Lincecum. Chris Young hit a 7th inning homer and Tony Abreu tripled in another in the same inning, trimming the score to 6-3. They would not score again.
The bullpen was once again stellar, pitching 2 1/3 innings of shutout one-hit ball, while striking out 1 and walking none. Brian Wilson was supposedly not available tonight (he did warm up in the ninth), so Romo came in to start the ninth, and retired Chris Young on a strikeout. Next batter Adam Laroche singled, but Jeremy Affeldt induced a Miguel Montero double play to end the game and give him his 4th save. Barry Enright took the loss and fell to 6-3.
You don't want to be pessimistic, but with Barry Zito (8-11, 4.18 ERA) pitching tomorrow, it's hard not to be. Zito has a lot to prove after his 4 inning 4 run disaster in Los Angeles. He could be pitching for his spot on the rotation, so let's see what happens. He will be opposed by Daniel Hudson (4-1, 1.99 ERA).
The Giants' scoreless streak ended tonight at 31 2/3 innings. The Diamondbacks/Giants season series record is now at 10-4 in favor of the Giants. Lincecum is 43-3 when the Giants score 3 runs or more for him. Mark Reynolds was out again for the second straight game this series and is doubtful to play tomorrow.
OK, I'm gonna comment again, hoping that someone other than me can show my buddy Vince some respect! Lincecum looked like the Lincecum of old for a big portion of this game. He was in control of his pitches and was in a very nice groove. It has been said that he should use his off speed pitches to set up his fastball. This is what I thought he did well tonight. In the 7th inning, he reverted back to using his fastball to set up his other pitches which hurt him in that inning. It could have been fatigue. But it was good and very reassuring to see him put up zeros for an extended period of time.
ReplyDeleteZito pitching tomorrow? He may rebound, but he needs to show his teammates that he is going to pitch to support them as they continue to get their offense in gear. I hope Barry realizes he has a good team and should be apart of them.
Giants are flexing their muscles a bit in September. Hunt for October continues. Orange and Black Power (fist in the air)!
Another great read Vinnie! Great recap... and great to see Franchise dominate and use and locate all his pitches thru first 6 innings. Agree with a little concern for Andres. Zito needs to step it up tonight and dig deep for a good outing.
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