The Case Is Made

Henry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate)

Ninety-loss seasons are not created equally.

When the Giants finished 71-91 last year they seemed like a dying tree, its browned leaves cracking in the autumn wind. When they beat the Dodgers 3-1 on Sunday to finish 2008 at 72-90, the players scattered for the winter on the wings of hope that they at least laid the foundation for a winning future.

How could they feel otherwise when Tim Lincecum, age 24, struck out 13 to complete one of the most dominating seasons by a Giants pitcher? Or when Pablo Sandoval (22) and Nate Schierholtz (24) singled home the tying and go-ahead runs in the seventh inning to ensure Lincecum would finish 18-6? Or when Brian Wilson (26) saved it with help of a diving catch by Ryan Rohlinger (24)?

"I know we can be contenders," Wilson said after finishing his first full year as closer with 41 saves. "I don't know how long it will take for us to click, but the Giants are going to be tougher in this division for years to come."

They certainly promise to be as long as Lincecum leads their rotation.

In front of 39,167 fans, with Peter Magowan attending his final game as managing general partner, Lincecum matched his career high with 13 strikeouts. He became the first major-league pitcher since Sid Fernandez in 1986 to record his first nine outs on strikeouts and, with 265 for the season, became the first Giant ever to lead the majors since the American League was born in 1901.

Lincecum's reaction?

"That's cool," he said, as if he were told J.K. Rowling was going to write another "Harry Potter" book.

"That's all I can really say. It was a lot of hard work, trying to work on my pitches and throw them for strikes. All I can say is, cool."

Now, with the Cy Young Award in the hands of 32 baseball writers and his league-high 3,688 pitches in the books, Lincecum can exhale.

"I'm looking to put the ball down and maybe pick up a video-game controller," he said.

Yes, the Dodgers treated Game 162 like a joke. Joe Torre let Nomar Garciaparra manage the team, Mark Sweeney was the bench coach and reliever Tanyon Sturtze made a mound visit in the sixth inning. Manny Ramirez and Jeff Kent did not play.

Still, the Giants were down 1-0 until Travis Ishikawa and pinch-hitter Dave Roberts singled with one out in the seventh. Sandoval came off the bench and whacked the first pitch - what else? - into left field to tie the game. With two outs and lefty Joe Beimel pitching, Schierholtz singled in the go-ahead run. Randy Winn delivered an insurance RBI in the eighth.

"To come back and get Timmy a win, you couldn't ask for more," manager Bruce Bochy said. "What a year he had. We owed him this one. It wouldn't have been a lot of fun if we didn't win that game."

That seemed a real possibility when the first two Dodgers reached in the ninth. Wilson said he then looked into the dugout and felt a "surge of energy to finish the game. I knew how important it was because it was Magowan's last game and more than that Lincecum was still going for Cy Young. I didn't want this win (disappearing) being the reason he finished in second place."

So Rohlinger dived to catch James Loney's liner, Wilson struck out Blake DeWitt and Angel Berroa grounded to third to end the win, the game and the first of what might be two or even three rebuilding seasons.

Sunday's feel-good ending cannot mask the deficiencies the Giants need to fix, particularly at the plate. They scored 640 runs, their fewest since the 100-loss 1985 team scored 556. Also, with 94 home runs they were the first major-league team not to reach 100 since the expansion Florida Marlins hit 94 in 1993.

Addressing that is for tomorrow. Sunday was about placing the crown on Lincecum's season. The Hall of Fame must believe it was special. It asked the Giants to send Lincecum's jersey from the game to Cooperstown.

"I think when fans think back to this year they'll think back to the year Timmy had," said Rich Aurilia, who might have played his final game with the Giants. "People forget this was his first full season. I don't know if it's fair or not, but expectations for him will always be high."

To which Lincecum probably would say, "Cool."