A history of silence: Phillies offense looks to finally solve Lincecum
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A history of silence: Phillies offense looks to finally solve Lincecum
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
My first year on the Phillies beat I was standing in the clubhouse before a game. Not far away from me was Adam Eaton, the righthander who spent most of the 2008 season in the rotation but was left off the playoff roster. Eaton was staring up at a TV screen.
"Unhittable," he said.
I looked up. On the screen was Tim Linecum, who the previous season had gone 7-5 with a 4.00 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 as a rookie for the Giants. I didn't know much about Lincecum at the time. Eaton knew plenty: both were from Washington state.
Needless to say, I quickly became acquainted with the nastiness that is Lincecum's repetoire. I have covered nine games in which the Phillies have faced the righthander, and only once have I seen them score more than two runs against him. As you can see below, Phillies hitters have produced exactly one extra base hit in 20 2/3 innings in their last three starts against Lincecum.
| Date | Result | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | 2B | 3B | Pitches | SB |
| 08/07/11 | SFG 3-1 | 7.2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 114/82 | 0 |
| 07/28/11 | SFG 4-1 | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 101/61 | 0 |
| 10/21/10 | PHI 4-2 | 7.0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 104/69 | 3 |
| 10/16/10 | SFG 4-3 | 7.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 113/71 | 0 |
| 04/28/10 | PHI 7-6 | 8.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 106/72 | 0 |
| 09/03/09 | PHI 2-1 | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 96/66 | 0 |
| 08/01/09 | SFG 2-0 | 8.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 117/76 | 2 |
| 05/10/08 | SFG 8-2 | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 105/74 | 0 |
| 05/04/08 | PHI 6-5 | 6.0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 110/64 | 0 |
Tonight, they'll make another go of it as Roy Halladay kicks off a 10-game West Coast trip by facing the Freak at ATT Park.
You have to think that Juan Pierre will be leading off tonight, given his 3-for-4 showing against the Mets on Sunday, as well as his lifetime numbers against Lincecum (6-for-12, 1 2B, 2 3B, 1 BB). Of course, that would mean sacrificing range and arm strength in San Francisco's spacious outfield. At first base, Laynce Nix is 2-for-6 with a home run and two strikeouts against LIncecum, while John Mayberry Jr. is 0-for-1. None of these players have long enough track records against Lincecum to say anything definitive, but Charlie Manuel often cites pitcher-vs.-batter match-ups when explaining line-up decisions, so we might as well look at them.
The only Phillies regular with a modicum of success against Lincecum is Carlos Ruiz, who is 5-for-18 with two doubles, a home runs and three walks in his career. Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins are a combined 12-for-64 with three doubles, one home run, four walks, and 14 strikeouts. Hunter Pence? 3-for-26, a double, 1 walk and eight strikeouts. Roy Halladay is actually 1-for-3 against Lincecum. So there is that.
Anyway, gametime is set for 10:15 p.m.
Pot boy Lincecum is good, but he also whines to the Umpires when he does not get his corner called enough (ala the 1st Playoff game against the Philles when they seemed to have him on the ropes.) Patience and not letting his hair confuse them should help.— GalRand- The premi's are over. San Francisco. San Diego and Los Angeles are the test. Manuels men will face there big test.— tulsaphil
- Get off my lawn, long-haired pot smoker!— Dave Clemens
- Don't you mean, long haired pot smoking monster. You may get 'lucky' though, he's starting slow. — channelclemente
- Phils will come home with a 7-3 roadtrip.Welcome back to CBP.— RonGon
- Who cares if he smokes pot? Who even thinks of that?— AbeVigoda
- I'm betting 6-4 on this road trip. That would still be fine.— alwaysphil1
- No.— gentian
- Phils cleaned up against a bad bp yesterday.....it's been their MO for the last 5 years. Big ball, small ball doesn't really matter. Facing other teams Aces, let alone just plain good starters, usually dazzles and befuddles them. If their approach to small ball works this year, they'll have to beat the big time Timmy Jim's of the world too......not just the #4 and #5 guys plus the rag arms in the pen. Let's see if this team can define itself and produce this year against the best. If they can't then another 102 wins won't matter. You are gonna face good or great pitching in the playoffs....and you have to beat it to win.....they really haven't done that in a long time.— Mark1npt
Comment removed.- It is sellout, wear your dark glasses. — channelclemente
- How did you guys get so lucky, Lincecum, Cain, Bumgarner, and Kershaw on one trip. That's a lot of crosses.— channelclemente
- If they're not patient against Lincecum, he'll pitch a no-hitter.
The Phillies love swinging at balls like they're trying to swat stink bugs. That's why they have no idea how to play small ball.— fmMD - The Rockies solved Lincecum on April 11th, he gave up 8 hits and 6 runs in 2.1 innings.— Tony DC
- The Phillies are terrible in SF so don't get your hopes up. But then again that was during the old days when they couldn't hit HR's at AT&T Park. Now that they are a small ball teams maybe we'll se some gappers.— AvoidSundanceVacations
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- Looks like they solved him in the first inning tonight. Hoping for more of the same. Also, what's up with Doc's "slow" starts? Slow is obviously a relative term here because it's not like he gets lit up or anything, but the first inning seems to be his nemesis. Glad the Phillies scored at least 4 for him tonight.— Penfold18
- Comment removed.
