BOX SCORE
PITTSBURGH ? There is no other way to put it: Statistically, Tim Lincecum is the worst starting pitcher in the major leagues.
The Giants' once-brilliant little ace, for all his pluck and pliable power and irreverent charm, is dead center in the biggest churning crisis of his professional life. And although the Giants enter the All-Star break with a 46-40 record and very much afloat in the NL West, there is no safe sailing in a whirlpool.
Lincecum got knocked out in the fourth inning for the second time on this steam-bath trip and the Pittsburgh Pirates kept up the assault in a 13-2 dismemberment at PNC Park.
Lincecum is 3-10 with a 6.42 ERA, which ranks dead last among 101 major league starters who qualify for the ERA title. The Giants are 4-14 in his starts.
After a merciful end to their 1-5 road trip, the Giants head into the All-Star break with a 46-40 record -- a minor miracle given the horror show they endured every fifth day.
Lincecum became the Giants? first 10-game loser since 2008, when Barry Zito was 4-12 with a 5.62 ERA.
That?s right. Lincecum?s ERA is almost a full run higher than Zito?s in his darkest days.
The Giants already listed Lincecum as their No.2 starter out of the break, which would give him just one extra day of rest. Giants manager Bruce Bochy said there was no reason to push back Lincecum, and that everyone believes he will have a better second half.
They might be forced to reconsider, or at least give the former two-time Cy Young Award winner time to play whack-a-mole with the reset button. Remember, the Giants have a day off following their three-game homestand against Houston to start the second half. They could always reconsider, skip Timmy and slide him in July 21 at Philadelphia.
Starting pitching report
Lincecum has tire marks on his back. He is 1-6 with a 9.00 ERA away from AT&T Park, and he never got a chance to settle in against the Pirates. Neil Walker doubled for the first of his five hits and Andrew McCutchen followed with the first of his two home runs.
Lincecum had some of his requisite bad luck in the fourth inning, when a bloop hit fell in, pitcher A.J. Burnett hit a bases-loaded single in the middle and the bullpen cashed in two of his runners.
But there was no explaining away this one. By the third inning, he already had given up two hard-hit doubles and two home runs ? the sixth time in his 18 starts that he has yielded four extra-base hits in a game.
(Entering this season, he had given up four extra-base hits or more in just 14 of his 155 career starts.)
His final line: 3 1/3 innings, seven hits, six runs (all earned), one walk and three strikeouts.
Bullpen report
The Pirates scored in every inning after Lincecum departed, and seven of eight in all. Brad Penny was a mess, and the Giants were just as bad behind him, in a three-run sixth inning.
At the plate
When asked the biggest questions heading into the second half, Giants manager Bruce Bochy mentioned that the hitters needed to be more productive against right-handed pitching, and with runners in scoring position.
A.J. Burnett illustrated Bochy?s point nicely. The Giants went down in order in the second through fifth innings against Burnett and didn?t score until the sixth, when Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval went double-homer.
In field
The Giants made three errors, as if it mattered.
Attendance
The Pirates announced 28,954 paid to see Lincecum?s immolation. McCutchen was compelled to make a curtain call after his second homer. Have Pirates fans seen one of those since Barry Bonds?
Up next
The All-Star break, and aren?t you happy about that? Buster Posey, Melky Cabrera, Matt Cain and Pablo Sandoval are off to Kansas City. The rest of the Giants will relax and reconvene at AT&T Park for a workout Thursday before opening the unofficial first half. They?ll begin a three-game homestand against the Houston Astros on Friday. Madison Bumgarner will get the ball.
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