Lincecum, Giants stifle D-backs in series opener: By The Numbers

Something had to give Friday night at AT&T Park.

Heading into the National League West affair, the Arizona Diamondbacks held a .338 batting average this season against San Francisco right-hander Tim Lincecum.

But outside of his ups-and-downs with Arizona, Lincecum has been dominant of late, compiling a 4-1 record in his last six starts, including a no-hitter back on June 25.

Advantage Lincecum in the third round of the head-to-head matchup.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner breezed through seven scoreless innings of work, and he had plenty of help offensively, as well.

San Francisco tallied two runs in each of the first two frames off of Arizona rookie right-hander Mike Bolsinger, including a two-run shot by Pablo Sandoval, and that proved to be more than enough support.

Lincecum and Co. cruised to a 5-0 win in the opener of the divisional three-game set.

Here’s a look back at the D-backs’ five-run loss by the numbers:

0-for-2:

All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who entered the game with a .577 batting average against Lincecum, finished 0-for-2 against the righty.

He did, however, single into center in the top half of the ninth.

1:

For the first time in 2014, second baseman Aaron Hill served as Arizona’s leadoff hitter. A career .174 hitter in the No. 1 hole, Hill didn’t have much success there Friday — 0-for-4 with a strikeout.

4:

For just the fourth time in 2014, Sandoval collected three RBI in a game. Sandoval’s 40 RBI, though, are only the 12th-most at his position.

8:

Goldschmidt’s quiet night at the dish ended a eight-game streak of recording at least one extra-base hit.

12:

In the bottom half of the sixth, Martin Prado committed his 12th error at third base and 14th error overall on a squibber by Lincecum. Among qualified third baseman, only Josh Donaldson and Pedro Alvarez have more errors this season than Prado.

31:

Despite failing to record a base knock against Lincecum, Goldschmidt did extend his streak of reaching base to a career-high-tying 31 games with a walk in the fourth inning.

40:

In 10 career starts, Bolsinger has only pitched more than five innings 40 percent of the time.

71:

After missing 71 games due to a stress fracture in his left foot, Mark Trumbo returned to the lineup in San Francisco. Trumbo stranded a runner on second in his first at-bat, but he did manage to send a ball back through the box in the seventh inning for his first hit since April 21.

9/29/2010:

Friday’s win marked Lincecum’s first at home against the D-backs since a 3-1 victory back on Sept. 29, 2010.