SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle
Tim Lincecum returned to being his old self, Pat Burrell returned to his old home, and the Giants returned to their winning ways Friday night with a 6-2 victory over the A's.
Lincecum backed Giants fans away from their collective panic button by tossing eight dazzling innings and winning for the first time since May 15. Burrell, who went to Bellarmine High in San Jose, homered in his home debut.
Lincecum threw most of his fastballs in the 90-91 mph range but he kept the A's off balance with a steady diet of offspeed stuff.
"That's the Timmy we know," manager Bruce Bochy said. "He had a rhythm going and you could see his confidence growing. He looks like he is back on track, and that's big for us."
Lincecum struck out seven batters, the most he has had in a game since May 9, and showed glimpses of dominance. He retired 11 in a row at one point and allowed only one ball to leave the infield during the second through sixth innings.
When he got Ryan Sweeney to ground out for the final out of the eighth, Lincecum received a standing ovation.
"I wasn't scared to throw a fastball in the zone, I relaxed and I remembered that I can do this," Lincecum said. "I have quit doubting myself."
Lincecum discarded the "erratic" tag along with his jacket as he celebrated Burrell's two-run, third-inning home run off A's starter Gio Gonzalez. Bengie Molina added a two-run shot in the sixth inning, and Buster Posey had an RBI triple in the two-run seventh in getting a little payback for last month's series in Oakland.
The A's held the Giants scoreless for the final 20 innings of that series and allowed only one run in a three-game sweep.
"We're not trying to make this series the most important of the season, but we remember," Molina said. "We definitely remember what happened over there, and we were all pumped."
Six runs were more than enough for Lincecum, who settled into his groove after an eventful first inning. He allowed only one baserunner - a one-out walk to Mark Ellis in third inning - between the second and sixth.
Ellis greeted a 92 mph Lincecum fastball with a double down the left-field line to lead off the game. Daric Barton sacrificed Ellis to third, but Posey fielded a Sweeney grounder and threw out Ellis on a questionable call at the plate.
Sweeney advanced to third base on two wild pitches and scored on Kevin Kouzmanoff's single to left. That was about as sketchy as it got for the suddenly fallible Lincecum.
"I don't want to say that woke me up, but I guess it kind of did," Lincecum said.
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