Tim Lincecum Comes Back With Authority

SAN FRANCISCO -- A wise man -- either Confucius or Yogi Berra -- once said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

The Giants took that step on Monday night.

Their mission, overcoming the Rockies in the final three weeks of the season to sneak into the wild-card spot, was a difficult one before the teams began a three-game showdown series. San Francisco's 9-1 victory in the opener makes it only slightly easier. The Giants are still 3 1/2 games out, three in the loss column, with 18 to play.

Still, you can only win one at a time. And the Giants did, thanks to a surprising offensive outburst and the fact that Tim Lincecum pitched like a guy who may be between Cy Young awards, not a guy with a bad back.

The Giants and their fans were certainly anxious to see what Lincecum would bring to the mound after he was scratched from his past start with back spasms. Lincecum had insisted all along it was not a big deal, but you had to wonder.

"I was a little nervous, I'm not going to lie," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said, adding that the trainers were checking on Lincecum more frequently than usual.

It was apparent early that Lincecum had his normal stuff.

"I think the layoff helped him a little bit," Bochy said. "It was an impressive outing. He didn't show any ill-affects of [the back injury]."

Lincecum could have told you that. He insisted throughout the time he was out that he had minor back problems as far back as high school, and this wasn't that bad. Were it left to him, he might not have missed a start at all.

"I had so much energy, I wanted to get out on that mound," he said. "It was hard to hear them say I had to wait another day, another couple days."

Lincecum didn't go along with Bochy's claim that he might have benefitted from the time off, but it certainly didn't hurt. He buzzed through the Rockies lineup, firing 95 mph fastballs, sharp breaking curves and diving changeups. By the time he'd completed seven innings on 116 pitches, he had whiffed 11 Rockies.

"This was important for everybody," catcher Bengie Molina said. "He went out and set the tone for the series."

Lincecum and the Giants had only a 4-1 lead before the Giants erupted for five runs in the eighth, turning the game into a rout.

As glorious as this one was for the Giants, they've got a lot of work left. Realistically, they need to sweep the series, and the next pitching matchup is not nearly as promising as Lincecum vs. Jason Hammel.

On Tuesday the Giants send Barry Zito to the mound against Ubaldo Jimenez.

Zito's second-half resurgence has hit a bit of a speed bump over his previous two starts, a couple sloppy outings in which he lasted a combined nine innings. Jimenez has been the Rockies' best starter in the second half, going 7-1 with a 2.60 ERA.

The Giants, though, handed Jimenez that loss a couple weeks in San Francisco, so they've got some hope. Things are certainly looking a lot brighter after back-to-back victories over the Dodgers and Rockies than they were during the preceding four-game losing streak.

"When we were in that little skid it didn't look like we'd come out of it," Lincecum said, "but we had a big win yesterday and today. It's never too late."