San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum left Wednesday night's Game 2 of the World Series in the eighth inning with lower back tightness, the team announced.
Tim Lincecum leaves World Series Game 2 with lower back tightness
John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
Lincecum, who hadn't pitched in a game since Sept. 28, entered Game 2 with a 7-2 deficit to open the seventh inning. He retired all five batters he faced, including two strikeouts, but after inducing a foul popup by Alex Gordon in the eighth inning Lincecum was visited on the mound by team trainer Dave Groeschner.
After a brief consultation, Lincecum left the game in favor of Giants closer Santiago Casila. Lincecum went to the locker room with team trainers.
“It tightened up pretty good on him. We think he’ll be fine,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said after the game, per Alex Pavlovic of the San Jose Mercury News. “I’ll know more tomorrow.”
After his 23-day layoff without pitching, Lincecum threw 23 pitches on Wednesday night, including 13 for strikes. He struck out Eric Hosmer to end the seventh and Josh Willingham to open the eighth inning.
Lincecum, signed to a two-year, $35 million contract before the 2014 season, was 12-9 with a 4.74 ERA during the regular season, but was bumped from the Giants starting rotation in August. As a reliever down the stretch, Lincecum was 2-0 with a 6.10 ERA in six games, totaling 10 innings.
Lincecum told reporters after the game that he was still stiff.
“It was nice to get out there and compete a little bit,” Lincecum said, per Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area. “Outside of that all I can think about is just hurting myself.”
Lincecum was on the active roster for the Giants for the Wild Card Game, the NLDS and the NLCS but did not pitch.
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