Fans of the Giants and Colorado Rockies can look forward to many fantastic duels between Tim Lincecum and Ubaldo Jimenez in the years to come - maybe later this year.
They did meet Monday in front of a sold-out stadium on a brilliant Memorial Day afternoon, but with Lincecum still gasping for air and grasping for answers, it was not a fair fight. Colorado won 4-0 as Cy-to-be Jimenez improved to 10-1.
That the Rockies would triumph seemed a fait accompli once Lincecum walked Troy Tulowitzki and Brad Hawpe to start the second inning and both scored on a two-out single by Clint Barmes. Again, a stolen base cost Lincecum a run.
The only outstanding question is whether Lincecum, in his 100th career start, might have discovered something positive to carry into No. 101. He had his moments, but an 0-2, 90-mph fastball down the pipe, which Todd Helton redirected 400 feet for an RBI double in the fifth, bespoke the work that Lincecum still must do.
Bruce Bochy said Lincecum should be happier after what the manager termed "a better outing." Bochy also said Lincecum was "close." Also, unlike last week, Bochy is not concerned with Lincecum's state of mind.
But Lincecum's state of mind did not seem too good when he said, "I think the more frustrating thing for me is continuing to struggle here. It's hard to find a way out of it. Like I say after every game, I try to take something positive out of it. There's too much negative going on right now."
Lincecum allowed four runs (three earned) in 5 2/3 innings, threw 121 pitches, and failed to finish six innings for the third consecutive game. The only time that had happened was in June 2007, in the seventh, eighth and ninth starts of his big-league career.
Lincecum seemed loose before the game as he sat by his locker and played with his dog, and the first inning provided hope as he retired the side on 11 pitches.
However, he needed 32 pitches to get through the second. He threw a decent pitch to Barmes, a changeup down, for the two-run single; the two walks and stolen base that preceded it were more worrisome.
"I put a lot of pressure on myself in that second inning," Lincecum confessed.
Bochy showed faith in Lincecum by letting him face Barmes with first base open, two outs and Jimenez on deck, largely because Barmes was hitless in 11 career at-bats against him. Bochy also admitted he was not comfortable making Lincecum throw strikes with the bags full, given his control problems.
Throwing strikes was all Jimenez did, with four different pitches, in extending his shutout streak to 26 innings. As Aaron Rowand summarized it, "He has electric stuff."
Pablo Sandoval owns the magic potion. He had three of the Giants' four hits, including a ninth-inning double, but apparently the stuff is nontransferable.
Buster Posey went hitless in three trips. He knew he was not in Billy Bucknerland anymore in his first at-bat, when Jimenez opened with a 99-mph fastball for a strike and got him to chase a high 98-mph heater for strike three.
Bochy said he had planned to shield Posey from Jimenez but changed his mind after the rookie went 6-for-9 with four RBIs over his first two games.
"He's got to be out there," Bochy said. "There are going to be tough matchups. These are the guys you do face in the majors. He's got to find a way to figure them out."
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