Remembering Tim Lincecum and the Good Times: His Best Performances

#4: July 13th, 2013

By July of 2013, it had been more than a season and a half of Lincecum’s downslide. He entered this game with a 4.61 ERA, but as they say, you can’t predict baseball. One thing Lincecum never did during his best seasons was throw a no-hitter. On July 13th, 2013, Lincecum did just that.

It seems absurd to rank a no-hitter this low on a list of a player’s greatest games, but that just goes to show how ridiculously great of a career Lincecum has had. In the middle of his second really down season, he gave everyone a quick reminder that he was once the most dominant pitcher in the game.

Lincecum’s first no-hitter against the San Diego Padres wasn’t the most dominant no-hitter, as he allowed five baserunners. He walked a batter in the first, hit another in the second, walked two in the sixth, and finally, one in the eighth. He did total 13 strikeouts, including six batters in a row at one point, and of course, you’re doing something right if you don’t allow a hit. His Game Score for the day was 96, a number he had never matched before, even through his Cy Young years.

Besides all that, Buster Hugs were born. Isn’t that enough?

By this point in his career, Lincecum was no longer the dominant force, but he surely could still provide some excitement. He wasn’t done, either.

Next: The Clincher