It started strange and ended quickly for Tim Lincecum tonight.
The first inning looked auspicious initially as Lincecum got a fly out from Puig, and struck out Joc Pederson. Two out, and then things went south.
Lincecum walked Justin Turner, gave up a single to Adrian Gonzales, then threw a wild pitch to Howie Kendrick which scored Turner.
Kendrick ended up singling to left. But the Lincecum recovered, striking out Guerrero to end a strange first. 2 swinging Ks, 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 run.
You can fool people some of the hitters some of the time, but not all the time apparently.
And the 2nd inning sealed it. Grandal and Rollins started with back to back singles, followed by an Anderson sacrificed bunt. Then came the Puig at bat that did in Lincecum.
Our guy battled, but Puig did too, extending his 3-2 at bat so that Lincecum was into 40 plus pitches. On pitch 42, there was some question if Puig actually fouled a ball or missed it entirely.
That could have bailed out Lincecum a bit.
But they played on, and the next pitch, Puig softly lined a single to center and 2 runs scored.
Dodgers, 3.
Puig-haters, 0.
Pederson, who struck out early against Lincecum, adjusted and doubled in Puig. Turner singled in Pederson.
And that’s it for our guy and a horrid looking Lincecum line:
1.1 inning, 7 hits, 5 runs, 5 earned runs, 1 walk, 2 Ks, 3.85 ERA.
Lincecum really looked uncomfortable from the start.
But it’s too bad it happens under the glare of the ESPN national spotlight.
He’s been so much better this year.
