Lincecum Battling Blister Problem

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Giants ace Tim Lincecum battling blister problem as well as Phillies

<!--subtitle--><!--byline-->By Andrew Baggarly @mercurynews.com
<!--date-->Posted: 10/14/2010 02:01:03 AM PDT
<!--secondary date-->Updated: 10/14/2010 08:37:17 AM PDT


The Philadelphia Phillies are expected to send Roy Halladay to the mound Saturday, creating an all-time classic matchup with the Giants' Tim Lincecum in Game 1 of the NL Championship Series.
Several Giants players and coaches are assuming they will see Halladay on short rest in Game 4, too, and then a third time if the best-of-seven series goes the distance.
Will Lincecum do the same? That's something the Giants cannot assume -- especially now that the right-hander is dealing with another blister issue on his pitching hand.
Lincecum confirmed to the Mercury News that his blister problem resurfaced during his dominant 14-strikeout complete game against the Atlanta Braves in the NL Division Series opener Oct. 7.
"It's not a big deal, and we're taking care of it," said Lincecum, who has received extensive treatment.
If the Giants had faced elimination in Game 4 of their division series Monday, Lincecum was considered iffy to take the ball on short rest. Manager Bruce Bochy said Lincecum insisted he would have been fine to pitch if needed.
"It's under control," Bochy said.
But if the blister becomes an issue again, it could affect the Giants' ability to match aces in this series -- and that could be a major disadvantage against the heavily favored Phillies.
Bochy isn't ruling out the possibility that Lincecum could start three times if the series goes the distance, though.
"You get in a seven-game series, sure, that's the option you want to have," Bochy said. "Both sides will have that option. Where he's at (with the blister), sure, all that will come into play. That helps make your decision, no question."

Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti said all three of the Giants' top starters could handle pitching on less than the normal four days of rest. But Righetti is thinking only about Game 1, a mentality he carried over from his playing days with the New York Yankees.
"We don't know how they'll come out of these starts, so we're getting ahead of ourselves," Righetti said. "When do you let a guy go? It's a great question. Do you wait till they're in their 30s? Or when they're young and strong, but you're worried about the effects?"
Nobody seems to worry about Halladay, even though the 33-year-old is a postseason newbie, too.
Halladay has thrown 43 complete games over the past six seasons. Only one other major league pitcher has thrown even half that many (CC Sabathia, with 25). Halladay has pitched on three days of rest six times in his career, going 4-2 with a 2.69 ERA.
And, of course, in his first postseason start, Halladay became just the second pitcher to throw a no-hitter in a postseason game, joining Don Larsen's perfection in the 1956 World Series.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said it best Tuesday: "Big Roy is Big Roy."
"Oh, yeah, he's pitching three games if it goes seven; there's no question," Giants first baseman Aubrey Huff said. "He's wanted this for so long. He's in the same boat I've been in, never been in the postseason. I was wondering what he'd look like his first (playoff) game. You knew he'd be good, dominant, but I don't think anybody expected him to shut down the Reds, a good-hitting club, the way he did.
"We've got a challenge going in there."
The Giants are confident in Lincecum, though. He is the two-time defending NL Cy Young Award winner, after all. And his two-hit shutout against the Braves arguably was the most dominant playoff start in Giants history, even if it came against a much weaker hitting club.
"He pretty much clicked on all cylinders," catcher Buster Posey said. "He had movement, location and really good deception."
Lincecum will face a stouter lineup at Citizens Bank Park. First baseman Ryan Howard has hit three home runs against him, more than any other big leaguer. Their lineup is dangerous all the way to No. 8 hitter Carlos Ruiz, who had a .302 average and .400 on-base percentage this year.
This is a full-circle assignment for Lincecum, who was a two-pitch guy with a sweeping, easily taken curveball when the Phillies hit him hard in his major league debut in 2007. That game taught him a lesson -- the importance of making adjustments -- and he is a completely different pitcher now, adding the game's best changeup in '08 and mixing in a lethal slider to springboard him out of a winless, miserable August.
"You get a different perspective what it's like to be in those shoes and have those doubts," said Lincecum, who is 6-1 with a 1.60 ERA in his past seven starts. "It's a grind, but if you do your work and don't battle yourself, you'll be fine. That's kind of the way I had to think about it."
Halladay is almost certain to take away Lincecum's Cy Young status when the award winner is announced in November. Lincecum's goal is to make sure that's the only thing he yields to Big Roy.
"You'll have to take every run like it's golden," Lincecum said. "Just execute and make good pitches, and hopefully we'll come out on top again."
 

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