OAKLAND -- It's a new feeling for Tim Lincecum, being No. 5 in a starting rotation. Entering his Friday start against the A's, the Giants had lost each of the two-time Cy Young Award winner's last nine starts, the longest stretch of his career.
Amidst speculation that he could be skipped in the rotation, Lincecum labored through a 43-pitch first inning in Oakland. At some point during that inning -- most likely after he walked Brandon Inge to make it 3-0 A's with zero outs recorded, and before he struck out Brandon Moss, Kurt Suzuki and Cliff Pennington in succession to end the nightmare-that-could-have-been-worse inning -- Lincecum locked in.
What was the difference?
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"Timmy was mad," Bochy said Saturday.
Lincecum was a batter away from being pulled in the first inning, something that has never happened to him in his MLB career, as Bochy had Shane Loux greasing up in the bullpen.
"That's the last thing I wanted to do," Bochy said. "Would have been rock bottom. I was looking at his pitch count like it was the New Years Eve countdown."
As Senior Insider Ray Ratto put it, Lincecum stared "basket case" right in the eyes. And in doing so, he found the motivation -- the anger -- he needed to send MLB hitters back to their dugouts asking, "What just happened?"
It's easy to get complacent on the heels of inking a two-year, 40.5 million dollar contract. But Lincecum's competitive nature won't allow him to fester at the bottom of the Giants' staff. Over his decorated six-year career, Lincecum has constantly made adjustments to his arsenal. He entered the bigs in 2007 as a fresh-faced 23-year old throwing high 90s with a sharp 12-to-6 curveball.
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When he went 5-1 with a 1.94 ERA in September and October of the Giants' 2010 championship season, he was down to 94, using the power change-up as his primary out-pitch.
Fast forward to this year, and the trend continues. Lincecum is throwing his fastball 54 percent of the time, and it's averaging 90.3 miles per hour.
You can be an effective MLB pitcher with a 90-mph fastball, but it requires complete commitment to the execution of every pitch, as mistakes at that speed will be punished.
Ask Barry Zito.
How will he replicate the results of his final five dominant innings? "I'm not sure if it's a muscle memory thing as much as it is mental," Lincecum said.
Lincecum's first-inning 180 roused a confidence absent from his first 14 starts. More than anything, he said, it sent a message to himself: "Hey, I can get in these tough jams and get out of them like I did before," Lincecum said.
"I just tried to channel the madness."
Lincecum, who leads the majors with 56 earned runs allowed, couldn't ask for a better anger-inducing matchup in his next start. He's slated to oppose Chad Billingsley and the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park Wednesday.