Lincecum's Golden Gem

He Came, He Saw, He Conquered - After the masterful no-hit performance Roy Halladay had put on the night before, it was unlikely another pitcher would steal the spotlight unless they were to throw a perfect game. San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum didn't surpass Doc's no-hit bid with a perfecto of his own, but he came awfully close from being flawless in the Giants first Postseason appearance in 7 years. Similar to Halladay, Lincecum also made his much anticipated Postseason debut. Continuing the ongoing trend that has been 'the year of the pitcher', Lincecum went on to throw a complete-game shutout, in route to San Francisco's 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

With Braves starting pitcher Derek Lowe on the mound, who's been lights out coming into this Postseason, the Giants were limited to only 1-run in his 5.1 innings pitched. But with Lincecum on his a-game, hardly any offense was needed for what the 2-time reigning NL Cy Young Award winner had in store for the fans that filled up the sold-out AT&T Park. Lincecum used his weapon of choice to his advantage -- the strikeout. Having led the National League in punch-outs for the third consecutive season this year, Timmy put on a dazzling 14 K performance, setting a Giants record for most strikeouts in a Postseason game. Ironically, 14K means gold, and Lincecum was nothing short of golden as he battled off the Postseason jitters with a 2-hit, 1-walk masterpiece that would make Leonardo Da Vinci proud.

On offense for the Giants, the lone run came in the 4th inning when right-fielder Cody Ross drove in the potential Rookie of the Year candidate Buster Posey. Posey led the inning off with a single and stole second on a controversial call that looked like an out. Neither the Braves infielders nor manager Bobby Cox who's had his fair share of arguments and ejections, bothered to debate the call. And thankfully second base umpire Paul Emmel called Posey safe, or else the game could very well still be going on. It could be debated whether or not Giants skipper Bruce Bochy should have yanked Lincecum in the ninth to bring in closer Brian Wilson who tied a franchise record for most saves in a single season (48) this year. But given Wilson likes to flirt around by allowing men on base, I think Bochy made the right decision. Bochy often tends to over-manage, so I was very surprised when he left Lincecum in to finish the game after 119 pitches.

The only way we'll find out if Bochy made a mistake by leaving Lincecum in too long, is if he's needed on short rest. And while I cross my fingers, let's all pray that won't happen. As the Giants plan to take a commanding 2-game lead to Atlanta, Game 2 on Friday will see Giants pitcher Matt Cain in action, as the Braves hope to even the series by giving Tommy Hanson the nod. Game time @ 6:30, Go Giants!