MLB.com
Providing any pitcher with offense is essential for success, but some pitchers capitalize on their support more than others. Take Tim Lincecum, for example.
Lincecum has built a 24-1 record in 41 starts when the Giants score at least three runs for him. The latest instance of this was Tuesday night's 4-0 triumph over the Atlanta Braves, which featured eight efficient innings from Lincecum.
The Giants confined their scoring to the second inning, but with Lincecum limiting Atlanta to five hits while walking two and striking out eight, that was enough. San Francisco struck with two outs in the second against rookie right-hander Kris Medlen (0-2), who surrendered Aaron Rowand's two-run double and Edgar Renteria's two-run single as the Giants defeated Atlanta for the sixth time in seven games at AT&T Park dating back to 2007.
That scoring outburst -- which Lincecum hastened by coaxing a walk that loaded the bases for Rowand -- seemed to sharpen the right-hander's focus. From the final out of the Braves' second, Lincecum retired 14 of the next 15 batters until Jeff Francoeur and Diory Hernandez singled with one out in the seventh.
"When you get a lead like that, you don't want to let them [catch up]," said Lincecum (4-1), who endured no-decisions in his previous three starts and won for the first time since May 5. "You just want to keep pounding them into the ground."
To Lincecum's teammates, the pounding feels more like cruising. They appreciate the relative ease they experience when their reigning Cy Young Award winner has his form.
"As you can see, he breezes through innings," Rowand said. "You're not out there on your heels. You're not getting stiff."
"When he's 'on' like that, it's a lot of fun, because it seems like you get a good rhythm and it translates to the offense as well," said first baseman Travis Ishikawa, whose one-out single began the Giants' big second.
It hasn't always been this way for Lincecum this season. Still weak from the bronchitis, which struck him in Spring Training, he compiled a 7.56 ERA in his first two starts. He was dominant in his next four outings, winning three of them while recording a 1.80 ERA and striking out 40 in 30 innings. Maintaining that pace would challenge any pitcher, and it proved out of reach for Lincecum, who surrendered eight earned runs and 16 hits in 12 innings spanning his next two starts.
Now Lincecum is streaking in the other direction, permitting one run and nine hits in 15 innings over his past two outings. It's tempting to suspect that this trend will continue.
"It takes some people longer to get ready for a season," Lincecum said. "You find the more throws you make, the more second nature it becomes throughout the season. I feel like I'm kind of getting in that zone right now. Things are just coming easier. The mechanics are coming easier. I'm not thinking too much right now."
The Braves, who have lost two games in a row to the Giants after winning or splitting their previous six series, didn't have to think too much when asked about Lincecum's prowess. Manager Bobby Cox even compared Lincecum favorably to Atlanta's fabled Big Three -- Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.
"He's in their class, that's for sure," Cox said.
Kelly Johnson, Atlanta's leadoff batter who went 0-for-4, was also duly impressed with Lincecum.
"He did everything he wanted to do," Johnson said. "I think all in all we tried a couple of different things. I think some guys went up there ready to swing and looking for a pitch early. Then I think there were some guys who went up there and tried to be a little patient. Nothing really worked."
Lincecum even provided the "shutdown" inning the Giants lacked in their previous two games. Sunday, Barry Zito surrendered three runs in the fifth at Seattle after San Francisco grabbed a 3-2 lead in the top of the inning. Monday, the Giants broke a scoreless tie with three fifth-inning runs, but Atlanta scored twice off Jonathan Sanchez in the sixth.
Lincecum responded differently after the Giants' productive second, sandwiching strikeouts of Johnson and Chipper Jones around Casey Kotchman's groundout in a 1-2-3 inning. This drew the Giants closer to their third victory in four games.
It also wasn't anything different from what San Francisco expected of Lincecum.
"He's a shutdown kind of guy," Ishikawa said.
From: MLB.com
 Atlanta (23-22) Lost 2 | San Francisco 4, Atlanta 0 |  San Francisco (22-23) Won 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Standings thru 5/26/09 | Recap: ATL | Wrap | Gameday |
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