Tim Lincecum shines in debut, leads Angels to win over A's
Tim Lincecum had his best days in the Bay Area over a nine-year career that saw him win three championships with the San Francisco Giants, so it made sense that he'd feel right at home in Oakland in his first outing with his new team.
Lincecum allowed just one earned run over six innings, and finished with two walks and two strikeouts on 98 pitches in his Angels debut to qualify for the win in Saturday's 7-1 victory over the A's.
It was Lincecum's first start since June 27, 2015, after his season came to an end prematurely because of a hip injury. He went 7-4 with a 4.13 ERA in 15 starts for the Giants last year.
Lincecum signed with the Angels last month, and went 0-2 with a 2.65 ERA in three rehab starts.
"I felt like at maybe 65 percent was there; it could've been a lot better," Lincecum said. "I just grind it out for the most part. I got a lot behind in the counts and just made good pitches after that. I had a really good defense behind me making great plays, so that helped out the game."
Mike Trout and Johnny Giavotella each launched solo shots in the fourth to give L.A. a 2-1 lead, and a five-run sixth inning blew things open to seal the win for the Angels. The A's fell to just 28-40 on the season.
