Yesterday, at the end of the recap for the Giants' 1-0 loss to San Diego, I wrote this:
We'll get them tomorrow. The Old Lincecum is going up against a terrible lineup. He has to shut them out. Mat Latos will finally have a non quality start. It's gotta happen that way.
You're welcome.
What a beautiful day for baseball. Football, not so much. Oh well. Wait till October/November (fingers crossed) to worry about football. Right now the Giants are all that matters, and they certainly delivered today. It all started in the 1st inning with Buster Posey's first pitch swinging against Mat Latos, hitting a 2 run HR into the right field seats. The Giants would get more, thanks to multiple hit games from Posey, Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell, and Juan Uribe. But those 2 runs were all they ended up needing, because Tim Lincecum IS Tim Lincecum again.
Lincecum's pitch count ran a little high, and he had to get out of a couple jams, but that's to be expected in most games. The difference was he was able to handle those problems much easier, because his control was the best we've seen in months. He was around the knees all day. His final line of 7 innings, 1 ER, 7 hits, 1 BB, and 9 K's is very encouraging. That's 1 walk and 20 strikeouts in his last 2 appearances. He's turning it around at the perfect time. The whole pitching staff is, in fact. In August, the team ERA was 4.55. So far in September, it's 1.84.
I saved the bad stuff for the end. Andres Torres is going to be out at least 10 days, probably 2 weeks, maybe the rest of the regular season. Its a huge blow to the team, and one they'll just have to make up for with more hitting from everyone. Torres has been very cold of late, but he's still one of the 1st guys I'd pick to come up to bat with the game on the line. The part that might be harder to replace is his defense in center field, which has been superb. Having a guy with his range in an outfield that often features Pat Burrell and Jose Guillen on the corners is crucial, and no one on the bench really can match it. Aaron masquerades as a good center fielder because of the "reckless abandon" he demonstrates out there, but he is average at best, and anyway, we do not want his bat in the lineup. Cody Ross seems like a much better option. Can Nate Schierholtz play center field? I don't know.
All this Torres out for the season stuff is BS. My 18 year old step daughter had her appendix taken out earlier this summer and she was back to work in a week and she's a wimp. Now granted working at Pet Food Express (a subsidiary of Petco BTW)isn't roaming center field but all this season ending BS is a little premature.
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