Washington Huskies Baseball: Tim Lincecum Throws No-Hitter

Jul 13, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum (55) reacts after a diving catch by right fielder Hunter Pence (not pictured) during the eighth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

After winning two consecutive Cy Young Awards, former Washington Huskies ace Tim Lincecum has struggled the past two seasons. He and baseball fans alike can forget them for at least tonight, as Lincecum threw the 15th no-hitter in the storied history of the San Francisco and New York Giants.

Lincecum battled his way through all nine innings, needing 148 pitches to face 32 batters. Not one of them reached base via batted ball, however. Lincecum needed to overcome control issues he has been battling with the past few seasons that troubled him again tonight; he walked four batters and hit one. This time, it wasn’t the defense’s fault that there was no perfect game.

Lincecum offset the walks and hit batter by striking out 13 Padres in the best pitching performance of his accomplished career.

The only perfect game in Giants history came last year, when Matt Cain made history versus the Houston Astros. His was also the last no-hitter by a Giants pitcher, coming June 13 of last year.

The last time the Padres were no hit also also came by the hands of a Giants pitcher. Who? Jonathan Sanchez, on July 10, 2009.

The last two no-hitters in Major League Baseball were thrown by Homer Bailey, with the most recent coming on July 2, against the Giants, ironically.

While Lincecum has battled through adversity since his Cy Young seasons, things are looking up for Tiny Tim. Husky fans, Giants fan and Tim Lincecum fans can all agree, a third Cy Young would be nice to see. It won’t happen this season, but don’t let Lincecum out of your sights again.