Tim Lincecum will get one last chance to prove himself Cy Young worthy, but last night’s performance might have hurt his chances. The Giants dropped the first game of their final homestand of the year 9-4, but the offense made the most of their few opportunities.
Colorado wasted little time getting to Lincecum, and forced him out of the game in the fifth inning. He lasted just four and a third innings, while giving up six runs on six hits (one being a solo homer) and a five walks. However, he did strikeout nine batters, giving him two hundred fifty-two on the season, setting a new franchise record. Lincecum had a temporary lead after the second inning, but lost it by the fourth. Keiichi Yabu was needed to get the Giants out of the fifth inning, but was unable to stop the bleeding, and allowed two more runs on two hits and walks. Pat Misch did a good job maintaining a five-run deficit through two innings of relief work, in which he allowed just one hit. Osiris Matos pitched the eighth inning and gave up a solo shot by Rockies third baseman Ian Stewart to extend Colorado’s lead to six. Geno Espineli pitched a perfect ninth inning with a strikeout, but by then the damage was near irreversible.
The good news was that the San Francisco offense was able to take advantage of most of their scoring chances, putting up four runs on just six hits and seven walks. Aaron Rowand was the only Giant with a two-for-four day, picking up an RBI with a single and double, and scoring a run himself, but he also did ground into a doubleplay. Omar Vizquel helped the Giants score a run in their three-run second inning with a sacrifice fly before being replaced by Ivan Ochoa. Nate Schierholtz also drove in a run with the only other extra-base hit of the game, a double, but it was his only hit in five at-bats.
Jonathan Sanchez looked nearly as bad as Lincecum in his last start, but will look to bounce back from that tonight at 7:15 p.m. Livan Hernandez has been inconsistent all year, but has started several pitcher’s duels, he will get the start for the Rockies.
