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Lincecum, Giants beat L.A. 6-5 in Series Opener
by Henry Schulman, Chronicle Staff Writer
(07-30) 23:44 PDT -- Odd things occur on the eve of the trade deadline, which arrives this afternoon. There is suspicion about every player who leaves a game. Signs are read and misread.
There were plenty of oddities at AT&T Park on Friday night that had nothing to do with trades. None was made Friday, but general manager Brian Sabean continued to search for a bat and a reliever.
The oddities came on the field in a 6-5 victory over the Dodgers. Tim Lincecum busted out a hand-over-head windup he had not used since college. Also, Brian Wilson did not pitch the ninth inning in a save situation, but Denny Bautista, starter Jonathan Sanchez and Chris Ray did.
With Wilson on the sideline because of a back spasm, the Dodgers scored three in the ninth to make it close, but the Giants held on to take the opener of a critical series. They moved within 2 1/2 games of first-place San Diego in the West while knocking L.A. to seven out.
"It almost felt like (Wilson) was in there, it was so exciting," manager Bruce Bochy joked.
In the ninth, with a run in on an RBI triple by new Dodger Scott Podsednik, Bautista relieved Sergio Romo and walked his only hitter, Rafael Furcal, before Bochy turned to Sanchez on his normal bullpen day to face lefties Andre Ethier and James Loney.
Sanchez threw a wild pitch that scored Podsednik, struck out Ethier and then hit Loney. Enter Ray, the former Orioles closer, who surrendered an RBI single by Matt Kemp but retired Casey Blake to end what had become a one-run game.
Through it all, Wilson paced the dugout. His back was better and he wanted to pitch, but Bochy was cautious, saying Wilson will be re-evaluated today.
"You guys know me by now," Wilson said. "You know I'm going to want to pitch. I'll go out there with a broken leg. I don't want to sit out."
Lincecum's 11th win was covered with Aubrey Huff's fingerprints. Huff's two-run double in the third inning gave the Giants a 3-2 lead. He also started a two-run rally with a single, homered to produce the sixth and decisive run and made two critical plays in the outfield.
In right, he fielded a Furcal double and started a relay with Freddy Sanchez that pegged Furcal at third. In left, his running catch robbed Jamey Carroll of a leadoff double in the seventh.
Once again, Huff reveled in the atmosphere, as a raucous crowd of 42,847 watched the Giants improve to 9-0 in their orange unis. Huff not only enjoyed his first Dodger-Giant game in San Francisco in a pennant race, he thrived.
"I have to," he said. "This is something I've always waited for, a situation like this, playing for something this time of year. If I don't go perform, nine years of losing doesn't mean anything."
Juan Uribe hit his 15th homer, Pat Burrell and Pablo Sandoval hit RBI doubles, and Buster Posey singled in a two-run sixth.
Lincecum allowed two runs in seven innings, but that was half the story. He used a new delivery designed to slow the top half of his body to aid control. He pitched to 17 batters his first three innings, a sign he was feeling his way with the delivery, but then stifled the Dodgers over the next four innings and finished with nine strikeouts.
Lincecum called it a "little 'twirk.' I guess for me it's a big 'twirk' " that he plans to continue using.
Notes: With the exception of Juan Uribe's home run, the other five runs for the Giants came with two outs. ... The Giants won their first game this season against the Dodgers at home, having been swept by LA back in June. ... San Francisco is 19-8 in July. With one more victory, it would be the first 20 win month for the Giants since September 2000. ... The Giants are 49-8 when scoring four or more runs. ... LHP Barry Zito (8-6, 3.49) opposes Dodgers' Chad Billingsley (9-5, 4.00) in a matinee scheduled for 1:10 PM to accommodate FOX. Billingsley will make his first career start on three days rest. ... SS Rafael Furcal and RF Andre Ethier are the only Dodger players to have homered off Tim Lincecum.
Photos: The Chronicle
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Tipping Pitches: Top 50 Pitchers for the Post All-Star Game Months
(07-15)
by Adam McFadden
RotoExperts.com
Much like when a card accidentally gets flipped in the middle of a poker hand, it's time to shuffle and re-deal. Starting pitchers that is.
The season is more than half over and a lot has gone on in the pitching world. It's definitely time to take a look at starting pitching rankings and make some big adjustments.
A couple of notes: These rankings are from the All-Star break forward. While the first half of 2010 has a big bearing on the rankings, it isn't everything that goes into them. Also, if you've read Tipping Pitches much, you'll know that wins aren't factored in a ton on the rankings (sorry, Ubaldo) because they're just so darn unpredictable.
Without further ado, here are the rest-of-2010 rankings:
1. Tim Lincecum -- This ranking is based on faith that Lincecum can move past his first-half control woes; his 3.70 BB/9 is up from 2.72 last year. The strikeouts are still there and his .320 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is slightly unlucky. Lincecum clearly has the skill set to be fantasy's best pitcher.
2. Roy Halladay
3. Josh Johnson
4. Jon Lester -- It's been quite a turnaround since his rough first month. Lester has been fortunate on contact (.274 BABIP) and might see his 0.45 home runs per nine innings (HR/9) inch upward. Even so, his likely top-notch placement among strikeout and earned run average (ERA) leaders makes him an easy pick. Read More
