Lincecum has not been very good this year - heck, the Giants have been pretty awful as a team - but San Diego has become a rather easy mark for a pitcher in the last six weeks. I am amazed that Lincecum could last 148 pitches...there's been a lot of conversation about turning him into a reliever where he wouldn't even have to throw around 100, under the theory that he'd be more effective and maintain velocity better not having to throw as many.
Pitchers are probably over-protected these days as clubs worry about the longevity of their investment in them...this is probably more evidence that over-protecting holds them back...at least on a given day. This is another example of a pitcher that doesn't have great "stuff" getting some great defensive plays and having all the right conditions present - a big ballpark and a weak hitting opponent - and gutting it out. Good for Lincecum, it is no mean feat no matter what the conditions. Good for him for gutting it out, he had to have some bulldog in him to do it like that. (Btw...Petco Field in San Diego is a beautiful ballpark in a great downtown area, one of the best places anywhere to see a game and it is a completely unknown (nationally) jewel of a ballpark).
