One reason why I love Tim Lincecum is because he is tough. Not mean and grubby "Sons of Anarchy" tough. His own kind of tough. Here are two very specific examples from tonight's significant victory over the rather pathetic puds:
Pitch #119 : Probably Tim's best pitch on a rather long night. Clinging to a one run lead in the eighth inning, Tim had a full count on the dangerous Cameron Maybin. The poor guy really didn't have a chance against a perfect slider. Out #23.
Pitch #124 : The Freak's last pitch was a perfectly placed slippery fastball (up above the zone, 92 mph) that Jesus Guzman missed by a mile. Out #24. I jumped up and preceded to pump my fist and march silently around my home for about three minutes. (Don't worry, only my pooch witnessed the impromptu parade. He's seen worse.)
We needed him and he delivered. Tim's blazing summer continues with some slick numbers (game score 72):
8 innings...4 hits...1 run...5 walks...7 strike outs
A great night for sure (I mean, shit, the dude lowered his ERA), but I bet Tim is still talking about his RBI single. I joke (?) all the time that the best way for us to win more is for the pitchers to hit better. Well, tonight it turned out the beautiful solo homer delivered by Carlos Beltran (a.k.a. Voltron) was not quite enough. Timmy was the true difference maker on this lovely evening.
Hmmm, Ryan Vogelsong swings the bat pretty good....Maybe things are looking up.
4 comments:
Hits: we'll take 'em where we can get 'em!
Tim is amazing. He showed such grit and fortitude. He was behind in the count all night long and yet managed to come up with perfect pitches. The ball would leave his hand and just when the batter would start his swing it would dive down to his ankles and the poor guy would be tied in knots. I don't recall at any time this season seeing Greg Papa get so excited about an individual performance on the CSN post-game wrap. Shawn Estes is almost incapable of excitement but he was in awe of Tim, too.
Nice effort from Casilla in the 9th.
Sometimes I think THE question is just how good Lincecum will prove to be in the long run. It's thrilling to have such a great young pitcher.
There's lots of time left. We're certainly capable of playing better than the last few weeks, especially if Beltran and Belt can produce.
I guess game score probably doesn't count for the size of the strike zone, which, at the beginning of the game, was about the size of a deck of playing cards for Lincecum. Castilla was a stud.
The strike to Maybin looked to me more like a split finger fastball. I think for Lincecum to reach his true potential, and perhaps be the best pitcher in the game, he needs to hone in on his control, and keep his pitch count lower so he can finish games. Walk count and pitch count down. Secondly he needs to field his position better. Thirdly he must hold runners on, better, and finally he could hit a little better. All those things can get him more wins and make him without any doubt the best pitcher in the game, because he already had the best stuff.
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