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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With half of the 2013 MLB season already in the books as teams collect as much rest as possible during the All-Star break in preparation of the dog days of summer that await, the midway point couldn't have come at a better time for the San Francisco Giants. The defending world champs who've won two of the last three World Series titles, have looked like a shadow of their 2012 selves up to this point. Having been bit by the injury bug practically all year long with injuries striking up and down the lineup as well as across the pitching staff, the Giants who are without their spark plug on offense in speedster Angel Pagan, have limped to the halfway mark with a 43-51 record, 6.5 games behind the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks. Though the GMen have maintained some success at home until their most recent home stand which saw Bruce Bochy's ballclub uncharacteristically drop 5 of 6 at AT&T Park, their road record of 15-31 is among one of the worst in the National League and has translated to their first sub .500 record at the break in years.
After appearing to hit rock bottom, losing 17 of their last 23 games, the Giants did manage to head into the All-Star break on somewhat of a high-note by taking 3 of 4 on the road against the pesky San Diego Padres. One of the wins being a game that Giants fans my age will be sure to one day tell their grandchildren about. Less than two weeks after being no-hit by Cincinnati Reds pitcher Homer Bailey who tossed his second career no-hitter in a 3-0 win over the Giants, Tim Lincecum who received the loss, had the tables turned on him just two starts later. Following their first pair of consecutive road wins in nearly a month, Lincecum would do something that baseball fans knew he was capable of the moment he broke onto the big league scene as a 150 lb. kid that could reach the mid to high 90's with his fastball while his build and features resembled that of a bat boy more than they did a Major League pitcher, resulting in players and fans simply calling him, "The Freak."
Despite his recent struggles, the now 29-year old pitcher in his seventh season would display a performance fit for the record books in vintage Lincecum fashion by tossing the 15th no-hitter in Giants franchise history and the 7th since the team moved out west to San Francisco. Striking out 13 Padres batters, Lincecum's only flaw came in the walk department where he allowed four men to get on base via the base on balls. Timmy also added a hit batsman, but none of that prevented him from making history and completing the first no-hitter in Petco Park history since the stadium opened its doors in 2004. The Padres who've been no stranger to the no-hitter having been no-hit on eight different occasions and as recent as 2009 against pitcher Jonathan Sanchez of these very same Giants, oddly enough have yet to throw a no-hitter of their own and are the only active Major League franchise with that claim.
Lincecum's no-no which was followed up by a bear-hug from his battery-mate Buster Posey who rushed the mound and a Gatorade bath from the rest of his teammates, required the second most pitches in MLB history, falling one pitch shy of Edwin Jackson's mark of 149-pitches on June 25, 2010 when he no-hit the Tampa Bay Rays as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. With the All-Star break looming, you had to have wondered whether the extra days of rest factored in on Bochy's decision to keep his pitcher in despite the high pitch-count. But given the circumstances of just how rarely a feat of this magnitude occurs and the relationship Bochy has with his former ace who's come close to making history on a number of occasions, the skipper never would've heard the end of it had he elected to pull his starting pitcher in favor of the bullpen. Factoring in all the warm-up pitches, it's likely Lincecum exceeded the 200-pitch mark and is something I'm sure almost every pitcher that's ever stepped foot on a mound would sacrifice if it meant etching their name into the record books with a no-hitter.
Also worth mentioning is the spectacular defense Lincecum had behind him making play after play. None greater than the play outfielder Hunter Pence made in right when coming in hard making a diving catch to rob San Diego's Alexi Amarista of a hit to end the eight inning, preserving the no-hit bid. At that point it seemed that the Giants' right-hander was destined to make history. The no-no is just the most recent accolade to add to the illustrious career of Lincecum who also has a pair of Cy Young Awards on his well decorated resume as well as a pair of World Series rings. Lincecum, a popular topic in trade rumors as of late, has long been in need of a confidence boost since following up a stellar postseason while in the Giants bullpen, with a mediocre 2013 campaign. Bruce Bochy and company hope that this historic performance will do just that as the team tries to right the ship in the second half and get back to their winning ways. But with a rising Dodger squad and a Diamondbacks team that's shown no signs of slowing down expected to be atop the NL West pennant race until the end, the Giants will have their work cut out for them. But whatever you do, don't count Bruce Bochy's club out, because we all know what happened the last two times that took place.
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