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Lincecum loses to A's for first time
By Chris Haft / MLB.com | 6/18/2011 3:01 AM ET
OAKLAND -- Friday represented a recovery of sorts for Tim Lincecum, who
performed adequately against the Oakland A's after enduring three consecutive
dismal starts.
But victory, not merely recovery, is expected of Lincecum when he faces
Oakland -- or any team, for that matter. So the Giants' 5-2 Interleague loss
Friday night left Lincecum feeling ambivalent. He could take some solace in
his improvement. But losing still stung him.
"You have to go out there and battle, give your team a chance to win. Once
again, I just failed to do so," Lincecum said, though the Giants trailed only
3-2 when he left the game after walking Coco Crisp to lead off the seventh
inning.
The reigning World Series champions finally sagged against their cross-bay
rivals, whom they had beaten six consecutive times. Lincecum (5-6) lost his
first career decision to the A's after compiling a 5-0 record and a 1.17 ERA
against them. If that doesn't sound dominant enough, consider this: Lincecum
yielded three runs in 4 1/3 innings vs. the A's in his seventh Major League
start on June 8, 2007. He then won his next five encounters with Oakland,
surrendering three runs and 29 hits while walking seven and striking out 44
in 42 innings. That's a 0.64 ERA.
Three of those outings were complete games, including a three-hit shutout at
AT&T Park on May 21. This performance was a letdown by comparison. Lincecum's
five walks reflected the lack of command that typified his previous three
starts, when he went 0-1 with a 9.39 ERA. But his fastball reached 95 mph and
looked livelier than it had recently, helping him amass seven strikeouts.
"I got back to being more aggressive, kind of letting things go, not worrying
about what I did mechanically because I felt pretty good," Lincecum said.
Yet in the next breath, he added, "I felt like I was battling the whole time
as opposed to kind of cruising, which was what I would like to do. I just
have to be better."
The two-time National League Cy Young Award winner was bested by right-hander
Graham Godfrey, who limited the Giants to two runs (one earned) and six hits
over seven innings in his second Major League start. The Giants went 0-for-6
with runners in scoring position while squandering Andres Torres' leadoff
double in the first inning and a first-and-third, one-out opportunity in the
fourth.
"We don't have much margin for error," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said, as if
he had to issue a reminder concerning his club's perpetual offensive
struggles.
The fourth-inning threat fizzled as Pablo Sandoval tried to score from third
base on a 1-0 pitch that eluded Kurt Suzuki. But the A's catcher quickly
gathered the ball and flipped it to Godfrey, who deftly tagged out Sandoval.
"There aren't too many guys who would have scored, the way Suzuki pounced on
it," Bochy said.
Josh Willingham's RBI double, which the Giants initially disputed but
ultimately conceded, was the centerpiece of Oakland's two-run uprising in the
third inning that broke a 1-1 tie.
Hideki Matsui walked with one out before Willingham hit a chopper past third
base. Umpire Laz Diaz ruled the ball fair, though television replays looked
inconclusive from some angles. The ball did not appear to raise chalk dust as
it skipped down the line. It didn't have to.
"[Diaz] said it went right over the bag," Bochy said. "It was just a bad
break for us and Timmy."
The ball also struck a security guard's folding chair leaning against the
wall approaching the left-field corner. But according to the Oakland
Coliseum's ground rules, it remained in play and was not a ground-rule
double. That enabled Matsui to score. With Conor Jackson batting, Willingham
broke for third base and proceeded home as catcher Chris Stewart, who later
threw out two would-be basestealers, flung the ball into left field.
Lincecum was fortunate to survive the first inning with just one run allowed.
Crisp drilled a leadoff single and advanced to second base on Cliff
Pennington's sacrifice before Matsui walked. Lincecum edged closer to escape
as Willingham flied out, but Jackson singled to score Crisp. David DeJesus
walked to load the bases before the Giants generated an inning-ending
forceout on Suzuki's one-hop smash to shortstop Brandon Crawford.
Cody Ross' sixth home run of the season christened the second inning and
forged a temporary tie. But the A's had established themselves as the
aggressors against Lincecum, the first pitcher to work at least eight innings
in four or more starts against Oakland since Scott Erickson, who did so
between Aug. 16, 1996, and July 21, 1998, according to STATS Inc.
"You want to see if he's going to dig himself into a hole," A's manager Bob
Melvin said. "I know he didn't have a great outing the time before, but, boy,
I just wanted to try to score first. I've been beat by him so many times
before, but just for us we wanted to try to get a lead. Even when he's out of
sorts or whatever you want to call it, he's still a terrific pitcher."
Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the
approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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