SEATTLE -- Giants manager Bruce Bochy and GM Brian Sabean are considering many options to help Tim Lincecum reclaim his Cy Young form. Skipping his turn in the rotation isn't one of them.
Not yet, anyway.
Even though the Giants have lost nine consecutive Lincecum starts, Bochy said the right-hander would make his next turn Friday at Oakland. The team had the option of skipping him because his next day falls on an off-day Thursday, perhaps giving him an opportunity to step back and throw a few extra times off a bullpen mound andor get an inning out of the bullpen.
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But Lincecum wants the ball on his normal turn. And the Giants will give it to him.
"He's healthy. He feels good," Bochy said. "I know the results haven't been great for Timmy, but you just see too many good signs. Even after the first inning (Saturday), he had bad luck there.
"At this point we think the best thing is to let him fight through this. If we felt different, we'd do it."
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Bochy said he was glad to hear Lincecum, after Saturday night's loss, tell reporters that he would fight to stay on his normal turn.
"Sure, sure, that's how you want these guys," Bochy said. "He's doing all he can to come out of this. He's taking it hard. At the same time, he hasn't lost any fight in him."
Bochy said he and Sabean would talk again prior to the game. Lincecum will get an extra day before Friday's start at Oakland, so perhaps he can throw a more extended bullpen session.
"All these things we talk about," Bochy said. "Any time a player is having a tough time, you look for ways that can benefit him the most. That's what we have to come up with."
Lincecum's issues have been most acute out of the stretch, which is particularly puzzling. In the past, Lincecum has pitched from the stretch with the bases empty because he has fewer moving parts and timing mechanisms than from the windup. But that adjustment only goes in one direction. It's not like he can just pitch from the windup with runners on base.
"You're right, exactly right," said Bochy, when told Lincecum usually used the stretch in the past to get back on line. "That's why this is a tough one for all of us, including him. The stuff was good. He was 92 mph into the fifth.
"What we've got to work on, and he knows it, is, Hey, you might give up a run, but let's control the situation.' It's human nature when you're accustomed to success to have self-doubt creep in there versus it's you that controls the situation."
Bochy said he's confident Lincecum won't stop looking for answers.
"He's come out of the stretch. He's gone to an over-the-head windup," Bochy said. "This is a guy who's tried a lot of things on the mound. He's resourceful when he needs to make an adjustment."
In other news, Bochy wanted to get a break for Ryan Theriot and he decided to go with Pablo Sandoval over Brandon Crawford in the No.2 spot. Buster Posey gets a quasi day off at DH. He recalled DHing once before in Toronto in 2010.
The Giants are 6-2 in rubber matches this season. They'll hope Madison Bumgarner can be on his game against Felix Hernandez.