Final
Lincecum's no-hit bid falls short
Jul 10, 2009 - 5:49 AM By JANIE McCAULEY AP Sports WriterSAN FRANCISCO(AP) -- Tim Lincecum had a tough time summing up his successful first half when a disappointing finish to his final start before the break was still so fresh.
"That leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, of course," he said.
Lincecum carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and won his fourth straight start, baffling San Diego with his nasty changeup and a curveball nearly as impressive in the San Francisco Giants' 9-3 victory over the Padres on Thursday night.
Lincecum (10-2) walked Evereth Cabrera to start the game and then Will Venable with two outs in the second. After that, he retired 13 straight and struck out the side in order in the sixth. Tony Gwynn Jr. broke up the bid when he singled to left leading off the seventh on Lincecum's 82nd pitch.
"We definitely didn't want to get no-hit," Gwynn said.
Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Kouzmanoff followed with singles and Lincecum's night was done after consecutive two-out walks to load the bases. He left to a standing ovation, but was clearly frustrated in how quickly it turned.
"Things are cruising along there fine," he said. "You have got to make better pitches. I got too deep on guys, showing too many pitches. I didn't stay aggressive enough or focused enough and kind of let it slip away."
Sergio Romo replaced the reigning NL Cy Young winner and immediately walked pinch-hitter Edgar Gonzalez to force home a run.
Lincecum's scoreless innings streak ended at 29, third-longest in San Francisco history. Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry pitched 40 straight scoreless innings in 1967 and then went 39 in a row in 1970.
"He's legitimately one of the best pitchers in all of baseball right now," Padres manager Bud Black said. "We finally got to him in the seventh inning, but you could see why he puts up the numbers he does. He's got a great array of pitches and he seems to be expanding those and continuing to grow as a major league pitcher. He's been on a nice roll lately."
Bengie Molina hit a two-run homer in the first to stake Lincecum to an early lead. Travis Ishikawa and Juan Uribe added back-to-back solo shots in the team's four-run fifth, the first time this season the Giants have hit consecutive homers. Lincecum followed with a single to left.
Pablo Sandoval, kept off the final NL All-Star roster earlier Thursday, had a two-run double in the fifth that chased San Diego starter Josh Geer (1-4). Uribe, Randy Winn and Nate Schierholtz each added RBI singles in the eighth.
This was the last start for Lincecum before the All-Star game, where he will certainly be considered by NL skipper Charlie Manuel to start for the National League.
San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy planned to call Manuel soon to inquire about how Lincecum and Matt Cain might be used. Lincecum was an All-Star last season but missed the game with an illness that required hospitalization for dehydration.
The shaggy-haired right-hander allowed three runs and three hits, struck out eight and matched his season high with four walks.
"Four walks used to feel like me. Now four walks doesn't feel like me," Lincecum said.
This performance wasn't that surprising considering he's been more dominant in recent weeks than even during his spectacular Cy Young season of 2008, his first full big league campaign.
"I think he could throw one," Molina, the catcher, said of a no-hitter. "It could happen any time."
Geer saw his winless stretch reach nine starts, going 0-3 since his lone victory May 23 against the Cubs.
Sandoval was beaten out for the last All-Star spot by Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino.
"I'm happy. It's my first full year in the big leagues and I was on the All-Star ballot," said Sandoval, acknowledging he voted for himself a bunch of times. "I got the numbers. I didn't get the votes. I'm excited about the support from my teammates and the fans. I want to thank them."
NOTES: Giants Barry Zito and Randy Johnson also took no-hit bids into the seventh this season and had them broken up by the first batter. ... Lincecum walked the leadoff batter for the fourth time this year. The pitcher had his seventh hit of the year and 22nd of his career. ... Of the 61 pitches Lincecum made through five innings, 16 of those were in two at-bats by former Giant Eliezer Alfonzo. ... Giants CF Aaron Rowand was still sore from crashing into the wall Wednesday against Florida and was held out of the lineup. ... The Padres were still undecided about their Saturday starter, with Black deciding between promoting RHP Tim Stauffer from Triple-A Portland or using either Luis Perdomo or Mike Ekstrom - both righties - from the bullpen.
- NL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
SAN DIEGO 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 3 1
SAN FRANCISCO 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 3 x 9 12 2 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: SDG - JOSH GEER, LUIS PERDOMO (5TH), LUKE GREGERSON (7TH), CLA
MEREDITH (8TH) AND ELIEZER ALFONZO
SFO - TIM LINCECUM, SERGIO ROMO (7TH), JEREMY AFFELDT
(8TH), BOB
Jul 10 12:50 AM - NL
AT SAN FRANCISCO - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY NATE SCHIERHOLTZ SCORED ANDRES TORRES.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, N SCHIERHOLTZ ON FIRST, R WINN ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SAN DIEGO 3
SAN FRANCISCO 9 BOTTOM, 8TH
DUE UP FOR SAN FRANCISCO: P SANDOVAL (.329, 2-FOR-4, 2 RBI)
Padres 3, Giants 9 Bot 8, 0 OutsJul 10 12:41 AM - NL
AT SAN FRANCISCO - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY RANDY WINN SCORED JUAN URIBE.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, R WINN ON FIRST, A TORRES ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SAN DIEGO 3
SAN FRANCISCO 8 BOTTOM, 8TH
DUE UP FOR SAN FRANCISCO: N SCHIERHOLTZ (.289, 1-FOR-4)
Padres 3, Giants 8 Bot 8, 0 OutsJul 10 12:39 AM - NL
AT SAN FRANCISCO - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JUAN URIBE SCORED EDGAR RENTERIA.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J URIBE ON FIRST, T ISHIKAWA ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SAN DIEGO 3
SAN FRANCISCO 7 BOTTOM, 8TH
DUE UP FOR SAN FRANCISCO: J AFFELDT (.500, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Padres 3, Giants 7 Bot 8, 0 OutsJul 10 12:36 AM - NL
AT SAN FRANCISCO - SCORING UPDATE
BASES LOADED WALK TO EDGAR GONZALEZ SCORED KEVIN
KOUZMANOFF.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, E GONZALEZ ON FIRST, L RODRIGUEZ ON SECOND,
E ALFONZO ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SAN DIEGO 3
SAN FRANCISCO 6 TOP, 7TH
DUE UP FOR SAN DIEGO: E CABRERA (.275, 0-FOR-2, BB)
Padres 3, Giants 6 Top 7, 0 OutsJul 10 12:12 AM - NL
AT SAN FRANCISCO - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY CHASE HEADLEY SCORED ADRIAN GONZALEZ.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, K KOUZMANOFF ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SAN DIEGO 2
SAN FRANCISCO 6 TOP, 7TH
DUE UP FOR SAN DIEGO: W VENABLE (.184, 0-FOR-1, BB)
Padres 2, Giants 6 Top 7, 0 OutsJul 10 12:01 AM - NL
AT SAN FRANCISCO - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY KEVIN KOUZMANOFF SCORED TONY GWYNN JR..
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, K KOUZMANOFF ON SECOND, A GONZALEZ ON THIRD, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SAN DIEGO 1
SAN FRANCISCO 6 TOP, 7TH
DUE UP FOR SAN DIEGO: C HEADLEY (.237, 0-FOR-2)
Padres 1, Giants 6 Top 7, 0 OutsJul 10 12:00 AM - NL
AT SAN FRANCISCO - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY PABLO SANDOVAL SCORED TIM LINCECUM AND NATE
SCHIERHOLTZ.
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, P SANDOVAL ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SAN DIEGO 0
SAN FRANCISCO 6 BOTTOM, 5TH
DUE UP FOR SAN FRANCISCO: B MOLINA (.266, 1-FOR-2, HR, 2 RBI)
Padres 0, Giants 6 Bot 5, 0 OutsJul 9 11:26 PM - NL
AT SAN FRANCISCO - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY JUAN URIBE (4) TO CENTER WITH 1 OUT IN THE
5TH OFF JOSH GEER.
CURRENT SCORE: SAN DIEGO 0, SAN FRANCISCO 4
DUE UP FOR SAN FRANCISCO: T LINCECUM (.167, 0-FOR-1)
Padres 0, Giants 4 Bot 5, 0 OutsJul 9 11:24 PM - NL
AT SAN FRANCISCO - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY TRAVIS ISHIKAWA (7) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 5TH OFF JOSH GEER.
CURRENT SCORE: SAN DIEGO 0, SAN FRANCISCO 3
DUE UP FOR SAN FRANCISCO: J URIBE (.282, 0-FOR-1)
Padres 0, Giants 3 Bot 5, 0 OutsJul 9 11:24 PM - NL
AT SAN FRANCISCO - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY BENGIE MOLINA (11) TO LEFT WITH 2 OUT
IN THE 1ST OFF JOSH GEER SCORED PABLO SANDOVAL.
CURRENT SCORE: SAN DIEGO 0, SAN FRANCISCO 2
DUE UP FOR SAN FRANCISCO: J BOWKER (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Padres 0, Giants 2 Bot 1, 0 OutsJul 9 10:42 PM
Related News
- Monday BP: Merry Christmas Dec 25
- The ‘help, everything is awful the Dodgers have ruined everything we love but hey I guess it’s the holidays maybe that will make us feel better probably not though’ mailbag Dec 23
- Padres notes: Luis Patino brought back, Victor Rodriguez next hitting coach Dec 22
- 2024 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List No. 4 Dec 22
- Good Morning San Diego: Could Padres trade Ha-Seong Kim, Jake Cronenworth? Dec 22
- Holiday Weekend BP: Heavy sigh Dec 22
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto rejects the Giants, signs with the Dodgers Dec 21
- Good Morning San Diego: Who is new Padres reliever Yuki Matsui? Dec 21
- Player Review: Austin Slater Dec 20
- Patrick Bailey out-bonuses Camilo Doval in the pre-arbitration bonus pool payouts Dec 20
- 2024 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List No. 3 Dec 20
- Maybe the Giants don’t have very much left to do this offseason after all Dec 20