Rael Enteen
CSNBayArea.com staff writer
SAN FRANCISCO – Paul Goldschmidt was a 21-year old playing rookie ball in Missoula, Montana when Tim Lincecum was on his way to a second straight Cy Young Award in 2009. The Arizona Diamondbacks’ burly first baseman should consider himself lucky that the pitcher he knows now isn’t 'The Freak' he was back then.
Goldschmidt is the owner of 12 career home runs, four of them off Lincecum. The latest big fly came in the sixth inning Wednesday, breaking a 1-1 tie as the Giants went on to lose 4-1 to their division rivals.
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“He just seems to hit that big home run,” Lincecum said after absorbing his sixth loss of the season.
Lincecum was asked if he hopes to repay the favor by handing Goldschmidt an 0-for-4 one day. He was as confident as ever:
“I’m not hoping. I’m going to figure it out.”
Lincecum said the 1-0, knee-high pitch he threw to Goldschmidt was a slider, one that didn’t dart low enough or far enough off the plate to be effective.
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“That’s the one pitch I’m thinking about right now,” Lincecum said.
While Lincecum will inevitably beat himself up over that single pitch, he can take pride in the fact that he worked seven innings and allowed two runs, only one of which was earned, for just his second quality start in 11 outings this season.
“He threw well; two runs in seven innings, you take that,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “Timmy did his job … He kept his poise out there. He should feel good about that outing.”
With Sergio Romo nursing a knee injury and both Santiago Casilla and Clay Hensley overworked recently, the Giants needed Lincecum to work deep into the game. He made it through seven innings, but not without a pep talk from his skipper.
With Miguel Montero on second following a ground-rule double in the seventh, Lincecum walked Gerardo Parra on a wild pitch that allowed Arizona's catcher to advance to third. It looked like his night was finished as Bochy walked to the mound. But after a brief conversation, the manager returned to the dugout and was rewarded for his confidence in Lincecum as Willie Bloomquist flew out to Gregor Blanco in right to end the inning.
“He pretty much just let me know that he’s got confidence in me,” Lincecum said. “That’s why he’s out there to tell me that we’re fine and just come out here and make a quality pitch and get out of this inning.”
Leaving Lincecum in too long has recently burned Bochy, who said he didn’t hesitate against Arizona.
“He’s the guy I want out there,” Bochy said. “He said he felt great. The way he was throwing the ball, that was his game.”
Lincecum needed 112 pitches to get through his seven innings, due in large part to five walks, one of which was intentional.
“I get into a rhythm sometimes where I kind of let pitches go and get 2-0 on a guy before I even realize that I’ve thrown a couple pitches,” Lincecum said. “It’s getting back to that focus point, just taking every pitch and slowing the game down and controlling the game.”
With the loss Wednesday, Lincecum fell to 0-4 in May, his first winless month since he went 0-5 with a 7.82 ERA in the infamous slump of August 2010.
The Giants get a break Thursday after a stretch of 20 consecutive days without an off day, and Lincecum will likely move on from thinking about the one pitch to Goldschmidt to pondering how to pitch like he used to when Goldschmidt was smacking balls off light towers in Missoula.