Lincecum Gets His First Win

It took four starts, but Tim Lincecum finally got his first win of the season on Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Giants won 5-1 as Lincecum defied the conventional wisdom that pitchers perform worse when they face the same team in consecutive starts, by going eight innings and only allowing one earned run. He struck out 12 batters to bring his total up to 25 in the last two games!

I've read in a couple of different places that some people are worried Bruce Bochy is pushing Lincecum too hard this early in the season. They cite a drop in his fastball velocity during the 8th inning as a sign he is being overworked, but that should not be a cause for concern. Timmy's fastball has occasionally dropped into the high 80's ever since he's been called up to the Giants, so a temporary drop in velocity by itself is not enough to cause alarm.

Clearly the Giants' ace has cured whatever ailed him during his first two starts. Of course pitching against the Diamondbacks' lineup can't hurt. Despite having a plethora of young talent, Arizona has not gotten off to a good start offensively. Their team OPS is a meager .674, good for 26th best in the Major Leagues.

Unfortunately for San Francisco the Giants offense has been even more anemic. Their team OPS is the second worst in the league at .667.

On Friday though, they drove in more than enough runs. The offense was highlighted by Bengie Molina's 3 run home run in the top of the 4th. This guy just continues to impress, and he is one of the lone bright spots in the Giants lineup.

I put a poll up to see who you think is the best catcher in the NL West. There are some pretty solid ones in this division, but my vote went for Bengie. Call me a homer if you must!