San Francisco @ Pittsburgh preview
PNC Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 5, 2010 ) San Francisco 3, Pittsburgh 6
Tim Lincecum has looked rather ordinary lately.
The two-time Cy Young award winner will be looking to get back to his dominating ways when the San Francisco Giants wrap up a three-game series today against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Any scenario that has the Giants making the playoffs this season involves Lincecum pitching the way he has the past two seasons - that is, better than anyone else in the National League. With an offense that promises to be among the lowest-scoring in the league all season, the pitching will have to carry San Francisco.
Lincecum started out in much the same fashion as he did in 2008 and 2009, going 5-0 with a 1.76 ERA through his first eight starts. But something happened in his last win against the Houston Astros on May 15. The right-hander went eight innings and allowed one run against the worst offense in the league, but his command abandoned him as he issued five walks.
Those problems have carried over to his past three starts and, unlike against the Astros, Lincecum hasn’t been able to keep the opposition off the board.
He has issued a total of 15 walks and allowed 15 runs - 14 earned - in 15 1/3 total innings while going 0-2. In total, Lincecum has walked 20 batters over his last four starts after allowing just 10 free passes in his first 11 outings.
A much-hyped matchup between Lincecum and the man who appears to be taking the throne as the new best pitcher in the league, Ubaldo Jimenez, on Memorial Day was decidedly one-sided, with the Colorado Rockies cruising to a 4-0 win behind Jimenez’s shutout. Lincecum was knocked out after 5 2/3 innings.
The 25-year-old has made three starts against the Pirates in his career, going 1-1 with a 2.86 ERA while walking five and striking out 33 in 22 total innings.
Lincecum will have to deal with the red-hot duo of Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker atop the Pittsburgh lineup. McCutchen went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a solo homer and Walker went 2-for-3 with an RBI in Saturday’s 6-2 Pirates win.
McCutchen now has three doubles and four runs scored through the first two games of the series while Walker has six multi-hit games in the last 10 contests. Ryan Doumit also made his presence felt on Saturday night, homering and driving in four runs.
Pittsburgh will send right-hander Ross Ohlendorf to the mound in the finale. The Princeton product hasn’t gotten much help from his offense this season, as the Pirates have managed a total of 10 runs in the six games Ohlendorf has pitched.
He is coming off his best outing of the season last Monday against the Chicago Cubs, when he allowed one run and three hits in seven innings. Ohlendorf did not figure in the decision as Pittsburgh went on to win 2-1.