Tim Lincecum's comeback couldn't be going any worse
Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look at the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.
Despite a mostly encouraging debut on June 18, Tim Lincecum’s comeback bid with the Los Angeles Angels has devolved into a disaster.
The once dominant right-hander looks like a shell of himself from his Cy Young seasons in 2008 and 2009, or even just excellent years in 2010 and 2011. Honestly, he just doesn’t look a pitcher who belongs at the big league level, but that’s exactly where the Angels are likely to keep him.
Lincecum has struggled to find consistency with any of his pitches. His command seemingly abandons him at a moment’s notice. Friday’s outing against the Red Sox was a good example of how far away Lincecum is from making any type of impact. In five excruciating innings, he allowed four runs of five hits.
That doesn’t look awful on the surface, but it was too much for the Angels to overcome as they lost 6-2. When you consider he also walked six batters than the outing could have and should have been a lot worse.
With this outing, Lincecum now has an 8.49 ERA and a 2.29 WHIP over eight starts that have only covered 35 innings. That averages to 4 1/3 innings per start, which is crippling to a team’s bullpen, and he’s allowing over two runners on average in each inning. Not to mention almost a run per inning.
There’s no other way to say it this: The Angels need to find another starter.
Unfortunately, that well is pretty much dry right now.
Scioscia said Tim Lincecum will get another start.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) July 30, 2016
Assuming they trade a starter at the deadline, Lincecum might be locked for the entire season. That’s far from ideal, but we can’t help but hope that Lincecum gets it turned around earns his place again.
TOP PERFORMERS
Rougned Odor: Texas’ second baseman delivered his second multi-homer game of the in Friday’s 8-3 win against the Royals. Odor hit a solo shot to punctuate a Rangers three-run first-inning rally. He then capped the game’s scoring with another solo homer in the eighth inning, which gives him 21 on the season.
Rougned Odor is 3rd 2B in franchise history w/ 20+ HR in a season, joining Ian Kinsler and Alfonso Soriano pic.twitter.com/x2gu43fDvG
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 30, 2016
Pretty impressive for a guy who never hit more than 21 in any previous season in the majors or minors.
By the way, A.J. Griffin earned the win for Texas. Before Friday, the Rangers starting rotation had four total wins dating back to June 28. All four of those wins belonged to Cole Hamels.
Junior Guerra: The Brewers right-hander continues to be one of the best stories in MLB this season. The 31-year-old hurler didn’t reach the big leagues until last season, but he’s looked excellent to dominant in most of his outings. In Friday’s 3-1 win against Pittsburgh, Guerra finished one out short of a complete game, instead settling for 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball. He’s 7-2 on the season with a solid 2.70 ERA.
Tommy Pham: On a night we anticipated history from Ichiro Suzuki it was St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Tommy Pham who stole the show. Pham collected two hits, including a two-run homer, to pace the Cardinals 11-6 win against the Marlins. St. Louis got three-hit games from Yader Molina and Kolten Wong, while Ichiro took an 0-for-4 to remain two hits shy of 3,000.
Toronto Blue Jays: The American League East could have a brand new leader come Saturday. That’s because the Blue Jays moved to within one-half game of the division-leading Orioles by defeated them 6-5 at Rogers Centre. Toronto used its power early, getting first-inning home runs from Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnaction and Troy Tulowitzki. They added three more runs in the third inning and never looked back. We advice the Orioles not look back either.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
Chicago White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton is not known for hitting home runs, let alone hitting no doubters that venture into Jim Thome territory at Target Field. In fact, he entered Friday with seven homers on the season and all of 27 total in 4 1/2 seasons. Somehow, he found the strength to reach that level, connecting on this 451-foot blast to leadoff the game.
Wouldn’t you know too, that was Chicago’s only tally in a 2-1, 12-inning loss to the Twins. Minnesota won the game when Joe Mauer drew a walk-off walk.
REST OF SCOREBOARD
Cubs 12, Mariners 1: Chicago scored five runs against Mariners’ starter Hisashi Iwakuma in three innings and seven more against Seattle’s overwhelmed bullpen to earn the easy win.
Rays 5, Yankees 1: In perhaps his final Rays start, Jake Odorizzi pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits while striking out five.
Indians 5, A’s 3: Cleveland rallied from an early three-run deficit, scoring four in the seventh to earn another huge win.
Rockies 6, Mets 1: Would you believe Colorado is 51-52 and quickly moving into the thick of the postseason race? It’s true.
Tigers 14, Astros 6: Detroit rode a seven-run second inning to victory. Cameron Maybin, Miguel Cabrera, Nick Castellanos, Justin Upton and Tyler Collins all drove in multiple runs.
Braves 2, Phillies 1: Philadelphia right-hander Vince Velasquez didn’t win, but apparently he improved his trade value with his six innings of two-run ball. The Rangers are reportedly in hot pursuit.
Nationals 4, Giants 1: The Nationals turned their first triple play since moving Washington to help secure a big road win.
Dodgers 9, Diamondbacks 7: The game was decided in a wild seventh inning that lasted one hour and 20 minutes. Arizona scored seven runs in the top half to take the lead, but the Dodgers rallied for five in the bottom half and never looked back.
Reds 6, Padres 0: San Diego’s NL-record tying streak of homering in 25 straight games was snapped by Brandon Finnegan and two Reds relievers.
#reds win 6-0. Third shutout of season, second vs. SD. Also end #padres HR streak at 25 games that began after 6/26 shutout at GABP
— Mark Sheldon (@m_sheldon) July 30, 2016
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
