Blame it on the attempted eradication of steroids, the younger age at which we train arms or the year-around cycle of baseball that’s blossomed throughout the country in recent decades. Whether you subscribe to one theory or possibly a sum of all parts, no one can ignore that we are living in a new golden era of pitching.
The rate at which no-hitters have been tossed has been astounding. In fact, it was just one week ago we were talking about Clayton Kershaw’s no-hitter and how it very well could have been the most dominant of all-time.
Tim “Timmy Jim,” “The Freak” Lincecum tossed another no-hitter for the Giants Wednesday night in a 4-0 win over the Padres. Here are some fun-filled facts as to why this one was special.
Let’s just say Timmy had one hell of a day.
It’s the second no-hitter for Lincecum in less than a year.
He needed 148 pitches in his no-no against the Padres on July 13, 2013. He only needed 113 pitches Wednesday; 73 of those pitches were strikes. He walked one and struck out six.
He became just the fourth active pitcher with multiple no-hitters, joining Mark Buehrle, Justin Verlander and Homer Bailey.
Lincy-baby came into Wednesday night struggling — 5-5 with a 4.90 ERA.
The Padres entered the game dead last in runs and batting average (2.16) in the National League. That had to have helped Lincecum’s effort.
Lincecum became just the second pitcher to twice no-hit the same team, joining Hall of Famer Addie Joss. The Cleveland Indian threw a perfect game against the Chicago White Sox in 1908 and a no-hitter in 1910.
It was the third no-hitter in the major leagues this season, all by California pitchers. The first two coming out of Los Angeles with starters Josh Beckett and Clayton Kershaw
It was the 16th no-hitter in Giants franchise history
The right-hander joins baseball great Christy Mathewson as the only Giants pitchers to have thrown two no-hitters.
Lincecum joined Sandy Koufax, Randy Johnson and Roy Halladay as the only pitchers with two Cy Young Awards and two no-hitters.
Lincecum even got two hits of his own, becoming the first pitcher with two hits in a no-hitter since Rick Wise hit two homers for Philadelphia against Cincinnati on June 23, 1971.
He is the 32nd pitcher in league history to reach the milestone of two career no-hitters.
The Padres are also the only team in MLB to have never had a no-hitter.
The Padres were no-hit for the ninth time in franchise history
Tim Lincecum joins Homer Bailey, Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax as the only players in the Expansion Era (since 1961) to throw 2 no-hitters within the span of a calendar year.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports.
Photo Credit: Getty
