Giants’ Tim Lincecum Pitches No Hitter Against Padres

San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum went from stud to dud in the course of one season. The Freak was named an All-Star for three consecutive seasons between 2008 and 2011, but just one year ago he was the worst pitcher in the majors by ERA as we approached the All-Star break.

Obviously that wasn’t an ideal position for Lincecum to be in as he approaches free agency at the end of this season, but he has managed to flip the script in a big way. The 29-year-old two-time Cy Young Award winner certainly helped his future stock last night and proved he still had plenty left in the tank.

Lincecum didn’t just pitch a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres last night—he made history in the process. He became just the 15th Giant in history to throw a no-no, pitching a career high in the process. His 148 pitches were the second most thrown in the course of a ho hitter—a close second to the 149 required by Arizona Diamondbacks’ hurler Edwin Jackson in 2010.

Over the course of the Giants 9-0 victory, Lincecum walked four batters and struck out 13—a season high—and got into double-digit strikeout territory for just the second time this season. It marked the second consecutive game The Franchise impressed—in his outing against the New York Mets last Tuesday, Lincecum allowed just three runs in seven innings, while striking out a a (then) season-high 11 batters.

Tonight marked the first no-no of Lincecum’s career in MLB.

The Giants’ Pablo Sandovar saved the no hitter in the seventh inning by grabbing a ground ball near third base and firing it off to first, just in time. Lincecum even scored a run in the game, bringing his season batting average to a surprisingly terrible (for a pitcher) .057 on the season.

This is probably not the best time to bring up the designated hitter rule, but seriously! How does half of baseball get a throwaway batter, while poor Big Time Timmy Jim has to bat every couple of days? So freaking ridiculous.