Tim Lincecum looked very shaky early on, unable to find the strike zone as he gave up three first-inning runs to the Brewers, one on a wild pitch. He settled down after that and threw four more solid innings, retiring his last ten batters faced. However, Zack Greinke shut down the Giant bats for the most part until the sixth inning when the Giants scored three runs to tie the game at 4 apiece. Angel Pagan singled in the fifth to extend his hitting streak to 18 games.
After that, the Brewers scored two runs in the seventh inning off Clay Hensley with an Aramis Ramirez two-run single, and that was all they would need as the bullpen tandem of Francisco Rodriguez and John Axford shut the Giants out in the eighth and ninth frames to secure the Milwaukee victory, 6 to 4.
Lincecum's overall line does not look terrible- five innings, two hits, three runs, four strikeouts. However, if you saw his lack of command in the first inning you would think the wheels were falling off, and his struggles in the first inning so far have been a recurring theme for him this season. If the Giants are to contend this year, Lincecum must stop digging them holes to climb out of in the first inning of his starts.
The Giants have not won a game since losing Pablo Sandoval to injury. On Saturday, Madison Bumgarner will take on Randy Wolf, a pitcher who has had great success against the Giants. Game time is 1:05 PM Pacific.