SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle
Tim Lincecum threw his first changeup hours before Friday night's game. He dug deep into the clubhouse closet for a pair of stirrups with the horizontal orange stripes favored by managing general partner Bill Neukom.
If only for the Giants' sake those stirrups possessed the magic to restore the enchantment of Lincecum's past.
No wins, five losses and a 7.82 ERA. That was Lincecum's August after he allowed four runs over six innings in a 6-0 loss to the Diamondbacks, only the third shutout by Arizona pitching this year.
A crowd of 38,013, whose morale sank with Adam LaRoche's three-run homer in the first inning, surely became more fearful when Buster Posey was removed for a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning. Posey left with what manager Bruce Bochy described as a mild left forearm strain, which Posey felt while swinging in his second at-bat. The rookie will be reassessed before tonight's game.
"I probably would have been all right to hit," Posey said. "It was probably smart not to risk taking a swing. I don't think it's that serious."
At least Lincecum maintained his humor after completing his winless August. Asked about the stirrups, he said he wore them at a fan's suggestion. Then, after a pause, he smiled and said, "And I seem taller."
Perhaps Lincecum was buoyed by the way his night ended. He allowed one run over his final five innings and finished with three scoreless frames, which he had not done since his last win July 30. Nobody wants September to arrive more than he does.
"I'm probably ready for it," he said. "Hopefully I'll start off fresh. This is one of those things where you've got to take a punch and roll with it. It's not something fun to go through. It's not fun for my teammates to watch me go through. I've got to fight through it and keep pitching. The last thing I want to do is give in or give up right now."
Coincidence or not, Lincecum's improvement Friday followed a slight adjustment with his right arm after LaRoche jumped on a hanging changeup and blasted it into San Francisco Bay for a quick 3-0 lead.
Stephen Drew, who was on second base, appeared to be sending signals to LaRoche. After the homer, Drew was caught on television demonstrating Lincecum's delivery to teammates. That suggests Lincecum was tipping pitches.
Drew denied doing so. LaRoche, asked if he was receiving signals, said, "If I did, I wouldn't repeat that."
Giants coaches were aware of all this and told Lincecum to move his right arm closer to his torso before his windup so a runner on second base could not see how he gripped the ball, moved his forearm or whatnot.
Unfortunately for the Giants and Lincecum, too, the league does not allow rollover runs.
After they scored 38 in three games against Cincinnati to start the week, they were skunked over seven innings by red-bearded rookie Barry Enright, who did not allow a run for the first time in 10 big-league starts. The Giants got one runner to third base.
Enright had a good backup sinker and provided a clinic on throwing breaking pitches to set up high fastballs. They reached only 87 mph, but as Geena Davis said in "A League of their Own," Giants hitters couldn't lay off 'em and couldn't hit 'em.
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