Giants starter Tim Lincecum was hit in the back of the right shoulder by a line drive on Wednesday afternoon and was removed from his start against the Orioles.
He crouched in pain after the initial blow, but eventually stood up and headed to the clubhouse under his own power. Lincecum fanned 10 batters and improved to 7-2 on the season, but he allowed eight hits to a bad Orioles team while also walking four. The good news is his bruised shoulder shouldn’t affect his status moving forward.
“Timmy is fine,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “There were no problems there. He worked hard and those guys made him work. It was a gutty effort. He has that ability to turn it up a notch when its needed. He had some big strikeouts.”
Lincecum, a two-time National League Cy Young Award winner, has looked shaky in some recent starts and his 3.11 ERA and 1.22 WHIP would be three-year highs if it all ended today. Of course, the season doesn’t end today, and Lincecum’s 106 strikeouts lead all major league pitchers. We’re thinking that Timmy is going to be just fine.