Daniel Brown - MercuryNews
Running out of words to describe Tim Lincecum, teammate Brian Wilson invented a new one Saturday night: comfortability.
It's the feeling the Giants get whenever Lincecum takes the mound.
Lincecum demonstrated during a 1-0 victory over the A's why he provides such a sense of well-being. The Giants won despite managing just two hits, despite facing a team that had beaten them seven consecutive times and despite facing a pitcher on one of the hottest rolls in the American League.
"He's unbelievable," Wilson said. "There's just a different attitude whenever he takes the mound."
Lincecum matched his season high with 11 strikeouts over seven shutout innings. And along the way he faced plenty of uncomfortability.
He worked out of a first-and-third and none-out situation in the first by getting Jack Cust on a strikeout and Bobby Crosby on a double play. That was a proper scene-setter for a night when the A's had baserunners in every inning but the fourth.
"We should have beaten him," A's second baseman Mark Ellis said of Lincecum. "Give him credit. He made pitches when he had to but, honestly, we should have beaten him."
Beating Lincecum, however, is virtually impossible lately. His last loss came April 29 against the Colorado Rockies.
The only Giants starter to open a season better than Lincecum (9-1) is Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry, who was 12-1 to start 1966.
Lincecum's performance against the A's lowered his ERA to 2.38.
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