Tim Lincecum!

He isn't as deserving as some of the other NL starters.

He looked at Roy Halladay's good starts and bad ones this year and found that the movement on Roy's pitches was similar in both situations and that the location was also similar.  That led him to conclude that it was likely mostly bad luck.

I think Tim Lincecum ran into some bad luck six starts back when he came out with a five-run lead and immediately gave up three hits on four pitches.  I think that upon being hard hit for pretty much his first time EVER, he (visibly) wondered how the heck this could be happening.

I believe his response was to begin overthrowing, which then caused him to lose his control.  (He had issued only seven walks in his five previous starts.)  He began receiving advice from all quarters.

Finally in his June 25th start against San Diego -- a start in which he saved his being temporarily removed from the rotation from what turned out to be the best start of his major-league career -- Tim said he just decided to do it HIS way.

From his grave, Frank Sinatra applauded, and Padres hitters mostly waved, gathering only four hits in seven innings while strikout out eight times.

Then yesterday Tim put it all together, pitching they way I am USED to seeing him pitch.  Striking out 12 while walking none (66 strikes on 97 pitches), Tim allowed only three hits in seven innings.  One of the hits was of the broken-bat variety.  Another was a popup lost in the sun for a double.

Tim's start reminded me of his final start at Fresno near the end of April.  In that game, Tim also yielded three hits and walked none, striking out 14 batters in six innings.

Yesterday Tim picked up three strikeouts with his change, four with his curve ball and five with the heater, which Padres hitters six days before had described as "rising" according to Giants color man Mike Krukow.  Krukow described Lincecum's change up and curve yesterday as "unhittable."

It may be important to note that even while Lincecum was being beaten up in the last two (13 earned runs) of his four straight tough outings, he struck out 12 batters in 7 2/3 innings during that time.  He had terrible control and perhaps a bit of bad luck -- but he never truly lost his stuff.

Now Tim has pitched 16 1/3 straight scoreless innings, yielding just eight hits and four walks, while striking out 23 batters.

IMO we are beginning to see the real Tim Lincecum.  And for Giants fans with precious little else to cheer about, it's truly a lot of fun.