NLDS Game One Recap

Based on game scores, these are the top nine starts of Tim Lincecum's career.

Date	Opp	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	GSc
2009-06-29	STL	9.0	2	0	0	0	8	0	91
2008-09-13	SDP	9.0	4	0	0	3	12	0	88
2009-07-27	PIT	9.0	4	2	0	3	15	0	87
2009-04-18	ARI	8.0	5	0	0	0	13	0	85
2010-09-24	COL	8.0	2	1	1	0	9	0	83
2007-07-01	ARI	7.0	3	0	0	0	12	0	83
2007-07-21	MIL	8.0	4	0	0	1	8	0	81
2009-06-12	OAK	9.0	7	0	0	1	8	0	80
2007-05-17	HOU	7.0	2	1	0	1	10	0	80

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/7/2010.

Rounding out the top ten list, fitting nicely into the number one spot, is Tim Lincecum's October 7th NLDS Game One start against the Atlanta Braves. How good was he? Nine innings, zero runs, two hits, and a whopping fourteen strikeouts. In context, this is clearly the best start of Lincecum's career...he absolutely dominated a competent offense (Atlanta ranked fifth in the NL in runs scored during the regular season) in the first playoff game of his career. But even out of context, it's the best start of his career -- at least judging by the game score. He achieved a game score of 96, eclipsing his previous career high of 91, and solidifying his reputation as the Giants' ace. He's truly a Giant among G-men. 

That was pretty much the story on Thursday night. 

Tim Lincecum dominated for nine innings. The Giants' offense, on the other hand, was rather silent, but what matters is the W. 

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Summary:

The Giants struck out nine times. They hit 15 groundballs, and grounded into two double plays. This was, of course, to be expected with a sinkerballer on the mound, but you still would hope they could've gotten a few more balls elevated.

Buster Posey made the scoring happen. After leading off the fourth inning with a single, he did something that he has never once done in his major league career: he stole a base. From the replay, he was clearly out...but who cares? For once this season, a bad call was in favor of the Giants...anyway... The stolen base put him in scoring position, and Cody Ross proceeded to hit a ball through the hole on the left side, scoring the Giants' only run of the game.

Aubrey Huff, on paper, had a good game -- as I had predicted. He went one for three, with a walk. In reality though, he didn't really get the job done. He failed to contribute during the Giants' greatest scoring opportunity of the game: in the third inning, with runners at second and third and two outs, he struck out swinging. He was also caught stealing in the eighth inning after singling. So...not a great game from Aubrey.

He is doing this for the first time, though. He has never been in the playoffs -- along with Freddy Sanchez, Pablo Sandoval, Buster Posey, Andres Torres, and Cody Ross. Hopefully they'll quickly adjust to playing in these high-stakes games (Posey, Torres, and Ross didn't seem to have any troubles...).

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How great is it that Jose Guillen was not on the playoff roster for the NLDS? He has put up abysmal numbers for the Giants, and has no defensive range or speed -- I mention this every single day. Cody Ross pretty much confirmed that this was a smart decision by having the Giants' game-winning hit as the starting right-fielder.

Barry Zito was also left off, as was expected. It makes sense. He won't start, won't be needed as a reliever...so why not free up a spot? It's a shame that a guy with a $126 million dollar contract is on the bench, but I guess it's just a testament to how much of a mistake that contract was...

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In case you're not familiar with the origin of one of Tim Lincecum's nicknames, Big Time Timmy Jim, here's where it comes from: