Heat plus humidity equals home runs? C'mon. That's the easy way to explain the events at Turner Field on Thursday night. There's more.
Tim Lincecum, who hails from the Great Northwest and prevails over the shores of McCovey Cove, has admitted he prefers pitching in cool weather, and computer data can be retrieved to show his numbers can go down when the temperatures go up.
But Lincecum has come a long way on that front, and his effort in a 3-2 loss to the Braves showed he has learned to deal with muggy conditions. He pitched 6 1/3 innings and surrendered home runs to Alex Gonzalez and Eric Hinske that proved the difference on a night the offense blew early chances and went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
"More than anything, he wants to shake that stigma he can't pitch in the heat," manager Bruce Bochy said. "He pitched a nice game tonight. That's a tough club over there, and two pitches were the difference."
Gonzalez hit a curve for a two-run homer in the second, and Hinske hit a changeup for a solo shot in the sixth. Bochy said he didn't think either would have the distance, but as Lincecum said, "They had enough to clear the fence. That's what matters."
Lincecum was irked about his three walks, one to Rick Ankiel that came on four pitches and preceded Gonzalez's homer. But the two-time Cy Young king managed to keep his team in the game despite a climate type that once bothered him a lot more.
"I'm getting used to it," Lincecum said. "You can look for various reasons, that maybe the hot weather made me leave the pitches up and give up two home runs. I don't know. I mean, without those two pitches, I think I'm doing all right.
"I think it affected me differently my first couple of years more than it does now. I feel I'm preparing a little better for it. ... It's easy to get hyperventilated out there. You make sure you hydrate up and take your breaths when you can."
"You have to get used to it," Lincecum said. "I think it affected me differently my first couple of years more than it does now. I feel I'm preparing a little better for it, obviously. Just getting used to it makes it a little easier, after being through it time and time again.
"It's easy to get hyperventilated out there. You make sure you hydrate up and take your breaths when you can."
Like in the first inning, after the first two Braves reached base. Lincecum promptly struck out Chipper Jones, Brian McCann and Eric Hinske, all swinging. When he needed it, Lincecum's velocity (peaking at 93 mph) topped the temperature (91 degrees at game time).
But he took his fifth loss in part because the Giants scored two runs - and could have had more. In the first inning, Freddy Sanchez was on third base with one out, but Jair Jurrjens struck out Buster Posey and retired Juan Uribe on a fly ball.
In the second, Pablo Sandoval got a late break from second base (and was forced at third) when Lincecum put down a decent bunt. The next batter, Andres Torres, doubled home Aaron Rowand, and Sanchez followed with a walk to load the bases. But Aubrey Huff made the final out.
It didn't help Lincecum spending time on the basepaths. The next half inning, the Braves scored two quick runs.
Lincecum has given up 12 homers this year after yielding 10 in each of his Cy Young seasons. He had gone 67 straight starts without a two-homer game, and Thursday marked just the eighth time in 112 career starts a team homered twice off him.
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