Giants’ Cain Has Been Lincecum’s Equal
Added on Oct 08, 2010 by Ted Sillanpaa in
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Think Tim Lincecum was impressive against the Braves on Thursday?
The Giants right-hander pitched a 2-hit shutout and fanned 14 Braves in a 1-0 win to open the National League Division Series.
The Giants and their fans must have been as dazzled by Lincecum as was the first prime-time, national television audience to see him perform in a game that really mattered, right?
Yeah, sure. Maybe. But, the Giants and their fans were split through most of September when asked whether they’d pitch Lincecum, or tonight’s starter, Matt Cain in one-game playoff.
And, Lincecum was good through most of September. Cain was as good and, sometimes, better.
Lincecum was hardly a stranger to the nation’s baseball fans before Thursday. He has won back-to-back Cy Young Awards. His talent, however, was mostly appreciated through word of mouth. Even TBS analysts Dennis Eckersley, David Wells and Cal Ripken, Jr. seemed surprised that Lincecum could be so dominant with a fastball that never got past 92 mph. But, that’s the pitcher Lincecum has become – a four-pitch guy who lost the 95-96 mph blazer he brought with him to the big leagues.
If the TBS analysts didn’t know what Lincecum was about, they could be stunned if Cain does what Cain can do on Friday night in Game 2 against rookie Braves right-hander Tommy Hanson.
Cain’s a 6-foot-3, 245-pound righty who looks like a guy who should be able to do what the slightly-built Lincecum did on Thursday night. Cain just finished his fifth full year in the big leagues at just 26 years of age.
His fastball stays consistently in the 92-95 mph range with a good curveball and a slider that he has used effectively in the second half of this season. His change-up isn’t as good as Lincecum’s change, but it was a key reason that he posted a WHIP of .069 in September to finish 13-11 with a 3.14 ERA and four complete games.
Like all of the Giants pitchers, Cain was victimized by lack of run support. However, he thrived in September’s playoff race with five consecutive sterling outings – before getting roughed up Friday night by the Padres.
The Roy Halladay-Roy Oswalt combination in Philadelphia gets all the attention nationally, but the Lincecum-Cain duo could vault into national prominence tonight if Cain does what he’s been doing for San Francisco.
** The Braves fans are outraged by the blown call at second base when San Francisco’s Buster Posey was thrown out attempting to steal, only to be called safe by umpire Paul Emmel. The call enabled Posey to eventually score the only run in the Giants win.
From the angle that Emmel had on the field, it wasn’t nearly as obvious that Brooks Conrad tagged Posey as it was in the variety of camera angles captured by TBS.
“I saw him safe,” Emmel said. “That’s what I called.”
“It was a tough call that didn’t go our way,” Conrad said. “I can’t really do anything about it. You have to put runs on the board to win.”
The Braves, of course, were held scoreless by Lincecum.
** The Reds have to show life early in today’s Game 2 against the Phillies. Bronson Arroyo (17-10) squares off against Philadelphia’s Oswalt (13-13) in the early-evening affair in Philadelphia.
The Reds were no-hit by Halladay on Wednesday and can’t afford to fall behind early, thus putting even more pressure on the veteran Arroyo against a the Phillies’ explosive offense.
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