Lincecum Twice as Freaky vs Padres

After turning the ripe age of 30 years old less than two weeks ago, Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum treated himself to a late Birthday gift on Wednesday by twirling a game for the books. Having done things in pairs throughout his career, such as hoist a pair of Cy Young Awards and help pitch the Giants to a pair of World Series triumphs, the one better known as "The Freak" has now added a pair of no-hitters to his well decorated resume. Just less than a year after tossing a no-hitter on the road against the division-rival San Diego Padres, Lincecum repeated the feat against the same ball club, this time in front of the home fans for what is already the third no-hitter recorded in the Bigs this season, joining the Dodgers' Josh Beckett and Clayton Kershaw.

On a day where a sold out crowd of 41,500 packed into the beautiful AT&T Park for a 287th consecutive time, Giants fans witnessed one of their favorites toss the third no-hitter since the club opened the doors to AT&T Park in 2000 before his teammates awarded him with a Gatorade bath. Though Lincecum didn't completely baffle batters with his stuff on the mound, most notably with his fastball which he chose to throw with only 36% of his pitches on Wednesday afternoon, he simply didn't have to as his pinpoint accuracy helped him record outs in a much quicker fashion than we've been used to seeing this year. A six-pitch third inning and a seven-pitch seventh helped Lincecum cruise through the ballgame while needing 35-pitches fewer than he needed in his July 13 no-hitter last season. And on pitch number 113, San Diego's Will Venable hit a ground ball to rookie second baseman Joe Panik who in his fifth career Big League start, helped assist the final out of the ballgame to seal the no-no. The only blemish on the day for Lincecum came with one out in the second inning when he walked Padres third baseman Chase Headley. 

Finishing the game with 6 strikeouts, seven fewer than the 13 punch outs he accumulated in last year's no-hitter, Timmy threw 73 of his 113 pitches for strikes and had all four pitches in his arsenal working for him. After signing a 2-year, $35 Million deal during the offseason to stay with the Giants, which many thought was a bit much for a pitcher who hasn't performed anywhere near the level he did while being named to the NL All-Star team for four consecutive years from 2008-2011, Lincecum became one of only 32 players in MLB history to toss multiple no-hitters. Lincecum also joins an exclusive club of elite pitchers with multiple no-hitters and multiple Cy Young Awards which features Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay and Sandy Koufax. However, Lincecum and Koufax are the only two who can make the claim with a pair of World Series rings under their belt. 

Big Time Timmy Jim is also one of only four active pitchers to hurl multiple no-hitter's, Justin Verlander, Mark Buehrle and Homer Bailey being the others. Lincecum's feat on Wednesday gave the Giants 16 no-hitters in franchise history, and only he and Christy Mathewson have tossed multiple no-no's in a Giants uniform. But of all the no-hitters that have occurred, Lincecum is one of only two players to no-hit the same ball club more than once, joining Addie Joss of the Cleveland Naps who tossed two career no-hitters vs the White Sox.

While his efforts at the plate will more than likely be overshadowed by his performance on the mound, Timmy also went 2-for-3 on the day with a pair of singles and a walk and also scored a pair of runs to support his own cause as the (46-32) Giants pulled out the 4-0 victory to salvage the finale of the three-game set vs the Padres. For a starting pitching staff that has struggled mightily as of late, boasting an ERA of 5.05 in the month of June and has been the centerpiece to blame for the team's 3-11 skid over the last two weeks, Lincecum's masterful outing just might be the shot in the arm the team needs to jump start what began as a blazing start to the season. That start which saw the first place Giants get off to a 9 1/2 game lead in the division, has been reduced to just 3 games by the archrival Dodgers.


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