Tim Lincecum's No-Hitter Heat Map & Nine to Know

The Jeopardy answer: Not bloody likely.

The Jeopardy question: Do you think that Tim Lincecum will throw his first no-hitter in 2013?

But, the Freak as he is lovingly called by his fans (you don't want to know what he is called by his detractors) threw 148 (!) pitches at the San Diego Padres who did not hit one of them for a base hit.

He struck out 13 and walked four and hit a batter in the 9-0 victory. His 148 pitches is the second most for a no-hitter exceeded only by Arizona's Edwin Jackson's 149 against the Rays on June 25, 2010.

Hunter Pence's Great Game and Great Catch

Hunter Pence drove in five runs with a groundball, a three-run triple and his 14^th home run but even without his five RBI, the Giants would have won, but Lincecum would not have a no-hitter without his great catch. 

Lincecum said, “That was really special. To be honest with you I thought that was a hit off the bat. Hunter comes flying in out of nowhere and makes the Superman catch. It was hard not to feed off the excitement that that caused.”

Pablo Sandoval makes the play

Pence's brilliant catch became the web gem of the night only after Pablo Sandoval's great play at third to end the 7th when the Panda came up huge on a grounder to third.

Nine to Know

1. Lincecum threw 148 pitches to 32 batters 96 were for strikes with 73 swings, 29 misses.
2. The average velocity of his pitches were 84 mph, with a peak of 91.5.
3. Batters fouled off 30 of his pitches, took 23 called strikes, and chased 36 pitches out of the zone.
4. Lincecum mixed his pitches throwing 61 fastballs, 36 sliders, 29 curves, and 21 changeups.
5. He produced 13 whiffs, two line drives, six fly balls, and six grounders.
6. Lincecum went to three balls on nine batters, walking four and whiffing two.
7. Lincecum went to two strikes on 25 batters, walking two and whiffing 13.
8. Lincecum's 148 pitches were the most thrown this season exceeding Clayton Kershaw's 132 against the Nationals on May 14, and the 130 thrown by Yu Darvish (5/16) and Anibal Sanchez (5/24).
9. Lincecum's previous high pitch game was September 13, 2008 when he four-hit, you guessed it, the Padres.

Comments

The Panda always comes up huge.