SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle
The Giants' 6-3 victory over Baltimore on Wednesday afternoon left Tim Lincecum and Aubrey Huff in joyfully foreign situations.
Lincecum joked about the possibility of using ice on his right shoulder for the first time in his major-league career, and Huff found himself contributing the biggest bat on a team in contention.
Huff went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs as the Giants completed a 5-1 homestand. Lincecum gutted out an 111-pitch effort that included taking a line drive off the back of his right shoulder.
"They wanted me to put ice on it, so I could tell you that I finally iced my arm for once," said Lincecum, who struck out 10 batters for the fourth time this season and 23rd time in his career.
Miguel Tejada's sixth-inning liner glanced off Lincecum's shoulder and caromed to second baseman Freddy Sanchez, who made an excellent play for the inning-ending out. The pitcher-turned-gymnast rolled on the ground before heading back to dugout.
"I was more shocked than anything," Lincecum said. "I didn't know what to do, so just lie there.
"I was like, 'OK, I'm fine. I can get up now.' "
Lincecum had four walks and three wild pitches, and he had to work out of trouble throughout his two-run, six-inning performance. Huff and Juan Uribe hit back-to-back homers in the sixth to give the Giants a 4-2 lead, and closer Brian Wilson recorded a five-out save to make Lincecum a seven-game winner.
With a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning, Wilson pitched out of a first-and-third, one-out jam. He retired the side in order in the ninth after back-to-back RBIs by Travis Ishikawa and Nate Schierholtz provided some insurance.
Huff smacked a 3-2 slider from Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie into McCovey Cove to the delight of a sun-drenched crowd of 38,485. In his first nine full seasons in the big leagues, Huff played for Tampa Bay and Baltimore squads that averaged 97.3 losses a year.
"At this time of year, I'm used to being 20 games out," Huff said. "I've never been a part of something like this.
"It's an amazing experience. I used to be counting the days until vacation by now."
Huff had a slow start, during which he was admittedly frustrated about AT&T Park's dimensions. Since the start of May, however, Huff has batted .333 and has become one of the Giants' best power hitters.
"Early, he was complaining, saying 'What's up with this field? I can't hit homeruns,' " Lincecum said. "Then, all of a sudden, he has hit started to hit them.
"It's fun watching his bat come to life."
It's equally fun for Huff.
"I'm having the best time of my life playing baseball right now," he said. "I've been on the other side, and it's not fun. I had nine straight years of that, and it kind of wears on you.
"I finally feel like I'm in the big leagues, and I'm having a great time."
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