Tim Lincecum could not be denied on Saturday. In addition to pitching six shutout innings with seven strikeouts, he went 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs. Guess it's not hard to figure out who won this one. Yup, it was the Giants by a score of 9-0.
Lincecum was so good that he had all of his RBIs before the Dodgers even got a hit. Joe Torre rested Russell Martin, Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, and Manny Ramirez, and it showed. But let's be honest, all of those guys playing would have made no difference on this day.
The Giants struck in the second on Licecum's bunt single to score Bengie Molina. Charlie Haeger actually did a nice job getting out of that inning, striking out Edgar Renteria and Pablo Sandoval to strand the bases loaded.
In the third, two bad errors really cost the Dodgers, and both by reserves. Aubrey Huff took a walk to lead off, then went to third on A.J. Ellis's throwing error. An error by Jamey Carroll let Mark DeRosa reach and Huff score. From there, it was a two-run single by Lincecum and Nate Schierholtz scoring on a passed ball to make it 5-0.
The rest of the game didn't even matter, as the Dodgers stranded all 10 runners to reach base. Carroll and Ellis did have two hits apiece, but their errors early in the game really set a negative tone. With the way Lincecum pitched, though, the one run in the second was all he needed.
Haeger was coming off a great start against the Marlins, but he had nothing going for him today. He lasted only three innings, giving up seven hits, seven runs (five earned), five walks, and three strikeouts. Some days the knuckleball is a thing of beauty, others days it's not. Obviously, today it was not.
The bullpen was again a mixed bag. Carlos Monasterios pitched two shutout innings, giving up three hits. Ramon Ortiz gave up two runs in two innings, putting his ERA at 7.71. Believe it or not, Russ Ortiz and George Sherrill each allowed no runs in an inning. But their ERAs are 10.29 and 12.46, respectively. Wow.
This was going to be an uphill climb to win from the start, so it's hard to get too flustered about it. Lincecum is that just good. And only getting better. With a little more offense this year, that's why the Giants are a big threat to take the NL West. Early on, they sure look like the favorites.
It'll be a battle of southpaws on Sunday, as Clayton Kershaw takes on Barry Zito. Kershaw will need to find a way to get deeper into the game, as he hasn't escaped the sixth inning yet. A win tomorrow will mean two of three taken at home, so that would be a positive going forward.
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