Velez's misplay in left costs 2 runs and perhaps the game
One swing, one moment, one egregious mistake by a third party is not supposed to decide an award as haughty as the Cy Young. But you have to wonder. Will the East Coast voters see a tape of what happened here Thursday night?
Will they understand that Tim Lincecum pitched a whale of a game Thursday night and easily could have won his 18th game? That his fourth loss of the season, and first since July 20, happened largely because a rookie infielder who was playing left field for the Giants played the third out of an inning into a two-run triple?
Or will they see the final score - 3-2 Diamondbacks - and note that Lincecum lost at Chase Field one night after Brandon Webb earned his 21st win? Time will tell.
Arizona completed a four-game sweep when Adam Dunn lined an RBI single against Lincecum in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie after Conor Jackson's two-out single and stolen base. But 34,323 fans and anyone who watched on television knew that was not the story.
With two outs in the sixth, runners on the corners and the Giants leading 1-0, Justin Upton hit a hard liner to left field for what should have been the final out. Eugenio Velez took one step in before he realized the ball was smoked and leaped for it. But the ball sailed over his head for a triple. Both runners scored, the first runs against Lincecum in 15 innings.
Manager Bruce Bochy often sticks his best defense behind Lincecum but used Velez in left field as part of an all-right-handed assault on Johnson. It was Velez's eighth outfield start of the year, his fourth in left.
Bengie Molina responded with a huge hit, an opposite-field home run in the eighth inning against reliever Juan Cruz that tied the game 2-2. The joy was fleeting. Lincecum finished eight innings for his second straight complete game, but lost.
Adding injury to insult, Lincecum was hit in the fingers of his glove hand while trying to bunt a Johnson fastball in the fifth inning. The 0-2 pitch was high, but not tight. As Lincecum tried to bunt it, the ball hit the fingers on his left hand, which were clutching the bat.
Lincecum fell on his back and winced. No doubt the entire Lincecum-loving Giants nation gasped.
He looked dazed as he spoke to head trainer Dave Groeschner and Bochy, who visited the plate. The Big Unit walked over to check on Lincecum, who then was escorted into the dugout.
Before the game, Bochy said that management decided to alter the rotation to get Lincecum one extra start. Instead of pitching for the final time against the Rockies on Wednesday night, Lincecum will open the final homestand on Tuesday then close the season against the Dodgers a week from Sunday.
Now it appeared the issue might be moot. But Lincecum's hand was checked in the dugout and he was fine. He ran to the mound for the bottom of the fifth and threw strike one to Miguel Montero.
Coming off his 12-strikeout, 138-pitch shutout at San Diego, Lincecum was a different pitcher against the free-swinging Diamondbacks. Actually, he was more Greg Maddux than anything else as he got Arizona to hit into lots of early outs. He struck out six and has 243 for the season, eight short of Jason Schmidt's San Francisco record.
The decision to get Lincecum an extra start was made after discussions among manager Bochy, pitching coach Dave Righetti and general manager Brian Sabean.
"We added it up," Bochy said. "We think three starts is the way to go. He'll pitch the last home game. We sat down and talked, Brian, myself and Dave. He's throwing the ball great and he's feeling great. Why not get him three more starts?"
Lincecum already leads the National League in pitches thrown, the Giants are well out of the race and odds are the Dodgers will have clinched the West before the season's final day. The risk-reward ledger tilts heavily toward treading cautiously with that franchise-changing right arm.
On the other hand, an extra win could heighten Lincecum's Cy Young chances and enable him to get 20 wins (a moot point now). The Giants might sell a few more tickets with Lincecum going twice on the final homestand, but Bochy said that did not enter the conversation.
Also, Lincecum has shown no signs of arm trouble. He would need an escort to find the training room.
"Obviously, if we had concerns we wouldn't do this," Bochy said. "Obviously, we don't have any concerns right now."
One concern Thursday was getting runs for Lincecum against Johnson. The Giants were poised for an early knockout when they loaded the bases with nobody out to start the game, but Johnson got an important out on a pop foul by Molina. The Giants got a run on Pablo Sandoval's sacrifice fly, but that was all.
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