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Tim Lincecum threw another complete game gem, this time a two-hit shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 10-0 victory.  The complete game was Lincecum’s 2nd in a row and 3rd one in his last 4 starts. Lincecum has now 5 complete games for his career as he keeps adding to his post Cy Young resume. 

Lincecum is on verge for another Cy Young Award if he keeps pitching like this.  He is just absolutely dominant and has some of the best stuff in the game. He has a fastball that reaches 97, 98 MPH like it did against the Cards, he has a devastating changeup, he still has his nasty 12-6 curveball, and he has developed another good pitch in his sweeping slider. With these four pitches and his poise, Lincecum is proving to be one of the best pitchers in the game today.

Lincecum was very dominant in his most recent outing against the Cardinals as he threw a complete game two-hitter and was economical as he threw only 95 pitches.  He also added 8 more strikeouts and didn’t walk a batter.  Lincecum also went 1 for 3 at the plate with a sacrifice bunt.

Offensively, Lincecum got more than enough as the Giants scorched for 10 runs on 12 hits.  The red-hot Nate Schierholtz continued his hot hitting as he went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored to raise his average to .322, good for 2nd on the team behind hitting sensation Pablo Sandoval (who went 0-3 with a run scored and RBI in the game).  Firstbaseman Travis Ishikawa went 1 for 4 at the plate, but his big hit was a 3 run homerun that broke the game open for the Giants. It was Ishikawa’s 5th of the season. 

“I’m throwing my pitches down in the zone better,” Lincecum said. “Their tendencies are that they don’t want to get too deep in the count. They’re swinging early and often. I just try to give them pitches they won’t hit out of the park.”

A fully rested Lincecum is destined to return to Busch Stadium on July 14. And unlike his All-Star experience last year, when he ended up in a New York hospital with a severe flu, he hopes to be an active participant.

“Well yeah, that’d be awesome,” he said. “Maybe I’d actually play in the game.”

Offensively, the Cardinals were silenced by Lincecum. However, Albert Pujols went 1 for 3 including a double, but Lincecum struck MVP-caliber Albert Pujols out in his 1st appearance. 

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