Mercury News
Tim Lincecum emphatically quieted his skeptics Wednesday night, and he did so by beating one of the best pitchers in the game.
Lincecum brushed aside a brutal August, pitching eight strong innings and outdueling Ubaldo Jimenez in a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies at AT&T Park.
The Giants drew within three games of the first-place San Diego Padres in the National League West and kept pace in the wild-card race, staying 11/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.
Lincecum entered the game riding a five-start losing streak, but he allowed just one run on five hits while striking out nine.
"I was just trying to be aggressive and overall just kind of have a different mentality," Lincecum said. "Just like, 'This is a big moment, and I've got to step up and start off the month well.' "
Lincecum picked up his first win since July 30, thanks in large part to an eye-opening debut by rookie Darren Ford.
Called up from Double-A Richmond, Ford didn't arrive until the second inning because of a two-hour flight delay in Detroit. That might be the only way to slow down the 24-year-old speedster.
With the score 1-1 in the eighth, Ford pinch ran for Mike Fontenot, who had drawn a walk. Lincecum bunted Ford to second, and when Jimenez's slider to Andres Torres skipped a few feet toward third base, Ford took off.
Catcher Miguel Olivo pounced on the wild pitch, but his throw to third sailed into left field, allowing Ford to scamper home. "I thought I could make it, so I just told myself to go, and it was a good decision," Ford said. Lincecum said Ford "was like a blur," and Fontenot called his replacement's speed "unbelievable "... something I was hearing stories about in the dugout." But manager Bruce Bochy remembered Ford's strong spring training, which he called "one of the best displays of baserunning I've seen." "He's electric, and he has no fear," Bochy said of his decision to use Ford right away. "This kid can outrun the ball." Before Wednesday, Ford had never even entered a major league ballpark. He conceded to being nervous, and when asked what he remembered from his first moments in a big league dugout, said, "I think Tim Lincecum was striking somebody out, but I'm not sure who it was." You could hardly blame him for losing track of Lincecum's dominance. Lincecum pounded the zone from the start, throwing fastballs on 13 of his first 14 pitches. Carlos Gonzalez took Lincecum deep in the fourth, but Lincecum settled in and cruised into the seventh. An infield single and error put two runners on, but Lincecum struck out Eric Young Jr. to end the threat, then came back out and set the Rockies down in order in the eighth on seven pitches. "After the first couple of innings helped me establish (the fastball), I started working some breaking balls in there, and then the changeups," Lincecum said. "I'm going to try to take this momentum into the next series -- (there are) a lot of positives." The Giants had many positives to dwell on as well. They moved to four games ahead of the Rockies and, aided by San Diego's seven-game losing streak, made up 31/2 games on the division leader during the last seven days of a 5-4 homestand. "When you make up some ground like we have and the team ahead of you has their struggles -- sure, that's what you need," Bochy said. "You never lose sight of winning your division."
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