Liotta: Giants aces packing a historic one-two punch
By: Tim Liotta
Special to The Examiner
July 5, 2009
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| Both highly touted prospects when they arrived, Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum have been as dominant as any two starters in baseball history. (AP) |
Don’t look now, but a two-headed monster has invaded the south end of downtown San Francisco.
And this creature has been terrorizing innocent tourists visiting AT&T Park. Honest.
What may sound like a science-fiction movie has been a recent reality for Giants fans, who’ve witnessed Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain devour hitters visiting from Milwaukee, Arizona and Washington — just to name a few — who could rightfully log complaints with local authorities.
“I know they’re just pitchers, officer, but I’m really not sure what hit me.”
For the last six weeks or so, the two right-handers to whom the Giants have hitched their present, not to mention their future, have pitched as well as any two you can name from any era, including Koufax and Drysdale.
Forget “Spahn, Sain and pray for rain.” How ’bout “Lincecum, Cain, stop the pain?”
Opposing hitters would be within their rights.
From May 17 through the end of June, Lincecum and Cain combined for 16 starts for the Giants, a combined 11-2 record, and a 1.72 ERA. They held the opposition to just 88 hits over 120¹⁄³ innings, struck out 119 and walked only 33.
Lincecum’s two-hit shutout victory on Monday night capped the streak, his third complete game in four starts. Surprise, Lincecum and Cain are tied for the National League lead in complete games.
Tim needed just 92 pitches to complete the gem, and said afterward it may have been his best night as a major leaguer.
From ’03 through ’06, Giants fans hoped the auspicious Cain would blossom into their ace. To no one’s surprise, he struggled with the things pitchers learning their craft struggle with.
Two years ago, the really auspicious Lincecum arrived, distracting everybody from Cain’s struggles, and promptly won the Cy Young Award last year.
There’s nothing better in sports than exceeding a fan’s wildest expectations. This is one of those cases.
First, Cain was going to be great. Then, Lincecum was going to be great.
It would’ve stretched the imagination of any Giants fan to think the two of them would be great at the same time.
For six week at least, the Giants can say they were.
Which is good news for Giants fans, bad news for Brian Sabean.
The dueling right-handers — not to mention Pablo Sandoval and a suddenly comfortable Travis Ishikawa — have pushed the Giants north of .500, into the wild card race, and close enough to the Dodgers to give the Giants a realistic post-season shot if something goes wrong in La-La land.
And that’s right where Sabean said the Giants had to be if they were going to be buyers at baseball’s trade deadline. Stay tuned.
Tim Liotta is a freelance journalist and regular contributor to The Examiner. E-mail him at tliotta@sfexaminer.com.
