Lincecum Ends Losing Streak

It was no secret that a big part of the Giants struggles recently have been because of their ace not pitching up to his standard, but Lincecum once again silenced all critics and helped the Giants beat the Twins, 2 out of 3.

Timmy was on his game in all areas Thursday, throwing in the mid-90's with ease and accuracy, and he also had the big curve ball going for him as well. Whenever he's in command of just his fastball, he's a tough assignment, never mind when he's in command of all his pitches. He ended up going 7 strong, allowing 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 12 batters, leaving the Giants bullpen with a 2-run lead that they held on strong to. Brian Wilson did give up a run in the 9th, then got out of it, but that wasn't the problem. It was the sputtering offense that did nothing much to help out the Giants ace, only mustering up 2 runs and a handful of hits vs. Twins swing-man Brian Duensing, leaving Timmy hardly any room for error, which is a tough way to constantly pitch. Had it been anyone other than Cain or Timmy out there in that ballgame, they may not keep their composure, with the lack of run support and all. And it's not like there is a quick fix on the horizon either. Pablo Sandoval has returned but he's come back down to earth after having a tremendous April, which I think everyone knew would happen eventually, just not so abruptly. If Pablo Sandoval is the 2010 Pablo Sandoval, this team is in trouble, plain and simple. They need him to be a .290+ hitter and run producer.

I don't care how good their pitching is, if their lineup is full of .240 hitters with no pop, and their defense is mediocre at best, they won't be major players the postseason, even if they did manage to sneak in. Now, I'm not saying this team still can't turn some things around, cause they can. Torres can pick up some slack, and I still think Sandoval is going to be a very good player, but without Posey, and with Huff hitting .230, they need those things to happen now, not 2 months down the line in September... As far as my J.J. Hardy watch, the dude continues to put up massive numbers, almost to the point where he's going to start garnering a nice little market for himself, if he hasn't already. He's now up over .300 with 10 homers and 30 RBI in less than 200 at-bats. Oh yeah, and he plays shortstop just as well as Brandon Crawford with a great arm. Even a J.J. Hardy wouldn't be quite enough to help overturn this offense as it sits now though. Unless Torres turns it around in a hurry, they're going to need another leadoff option. Whether they want to give Darren Ford a look, or try Aaron Rowand again, they need a spark at the top, especially now with Freddy Sanchez out of the 2-spot.

Jonathan Sanchez gets the nod Friday night in a nice matchup of youngsters, going against Cleveland righty Carlos Carrasco (7-3, 3.76 era). I'd sure like to see Sanchez stick around in this game, and not be bounced out by the 6th inning cause it seems like any time he gets the ball deep into games, he tends to come out victorious. At the same time, if I were Bochy, I'd have the short hook too. It's a warm June evening and if Sanchez isn't on, he can accumulate base-runners in a hurry... Should be a very interesting weekend series though going up against the best team in the AL Central, providing the Giants with another test to see just where they stand here in late June with all their injuries and slumps!