On the season, Lincecum pitched 225.1 innings over 32 starts. He finished with a 2.48 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP and 261 strikeouts while allowing only 168 hits. Despite his fantastic stats, he only had a record of 15-7. His 15 wins were the least in baseball history for a Cy Young Award winner in a full length season.

Wainwright actually had the most first place votes with 12, while Carpenter finished second in the balloting. The other two pitchers to receive votes were Dan Haren of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Javier Vazquez of the Atlanta Braves.

The balloting was so close because great cases could be made for both Carpenter and Wainwright. Carpenter had a lower ERA (2.24) and more wins (17) than Lincecum. Wainwright, on the other hand, led the NL in wins with 19 and had a comparable ERA at 2.63. But when it came down to it, Carpenter and Wainwright being on the same team didn’t help and opened the door for Lincecum.

Tim Lincecum won the Cy Young Award again (Image: Zuma Press)

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On Thursday, Lee scored the game-tying run in the top of the ninth inning after Jeff Baker hit a homer with two outs to give the Cubs the lead over the San Francisco Giants. As Lee and Baker entered the dugout, teammates were celebrating.

During that celebration, Guzman greeted Lee with a helmet slap. The problem? The helmet slapped caused Lee to suffer neck spasms. Lee was then forced to leave the game and he wasn’t in the lineup for Friday’s contest.

As it stands, the Cubs are 80-73 and out of the playoff chase. Good thing there is always next year. That will be the year the curse ends. Right, Cubs fans?

Derrek Lee Injured by a Celebratory Helmet Slap (Image: Zuma Press)

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Not so fast.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Giants began the inning with three straight singles. Eventually, Nick Schierholtz was at the plate with the tieing run at third base. However, Rafeal Betancourt struck out Schierholtz to end San Francisco’s rally.

The Rockies MVP of the game was undoubtedly starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa. He went eight innings, giving up only three hits while striking out nine. He improved his record on the season to 15-9 and lowered his ERA to 4.17.

With the win, the Rockies now lead the Giants by 3.5 games. The Giants now begin a series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, while the Rockies begin a set against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Colorado Rockies are trying to hold off the San Francisco Giants (Image: Zuma Press)

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Obviously, this is potential very bad news for the San Francisco Giants. Although manager Bruce Bochy thinks that Lincecum will be ready after only a couple of days, any type of setback would likely doom the Giants’ chances in the NL Wild Card race.

As it stands, the Giants trail the Colorado Rockies by three games for a spot in the 2009 baseball playoffs. The Rockies have won five games in a row, while the Giants have lost four of their last ten ballgames.

On the season, Lincecum is 13-5 with a 2.34 ERA. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner has a chance to win that award for a second straight year if he has a strong finish to the 2009 campaign. However, this back injury will likely slow him down enough to take him out of the running. Now the Giants need to hope that the injury doesn’t take them out of the NL Wild Card running.

Tim Lincecum - San Francisco Giants (Image: Zuma Press)

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Pitching all nine innings, Hamels gave up only two hits and one walk while striking out nine batters. It was his best start of the season and evened his record at 8-8 in addition to lowering his ERA to 4.26. Considering that he was 0-3 in August with a 4.91 ERA, this was quite a turnaround.

Providing the offense for the Phillies was — who else? — Ryan Howard. The big first baseman was 2-for-4 with an RBI double in the fourth inning. That lone RBI was all Hamels needed.

For the Giants, Jonathan Sanchez wasn’t half bad, either. In six innings, the native of Puerto Rico gave up only three hits and one earned run while striking out eight.

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In his career, which dates all the way back to the 1988 season with the Montreal Expos, he has only ten relief appearances. He last appeared out of the bullpen with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2001 campaign.

On the season, the Big Unit has an ERA of 4.81 and a record of 8-6. The biggest moment of the season was when the 45-year-old won his 300th game. He now has a career record of 303-166.

At the moment, the Giants are tied with the Colorado Rockies in the NL Wild Card race with records of 72-59. If Johnson can return — even as a reliever — he’ll give the Giants a boost that may be enough to lead the team into the 2009 MLB postseason.

Said Johnson: “It would be nice to come back in some capacity and help the team.”

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In the top half of the 14th, Eugenio Velez hit a two-run triple and later scored on a ground out. Up 4-1, the Giants had to be confident. But after a bases loaded walk made the score 4-2, Spilborghs hit his game-winning grand slam that ignited a while celebration in front of the home fans.

The win by the Rockies was huge in the NL Wild Card race. If the Giants would have won, they could have cut the Rockies’ lead to two games. But because Colorado won, they now lead San Francisco by four games.

Expect many more exciting contests as the NL Wild Card race goes down to the wire.

Ryan Spilborghs - Colorado Rockies (Image: Zuma Press)

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Jeff Borris, Bond’s agent, even pointed out the San Francisco Giants as a possible destination for Bonds.

Said Borris to the San Francisco Chronicle: “I know the Giants are dying for power, and they’re in it. They wouldn’t have to look beyond their backyard.”

The chances of the Giants signing Bonds is about the same as the chances that David Eckstein finishes the season with 74 home runs.

Even Bonds’ agent agrees that Bonds signing with the Giants — or anyone else — is unlikely.

“I talk to teams all the time,” said Borris, “but nobody has brought up his name.”

Eventually, Bonds will get too old to even claim he wants to return to baseball. But for the next few years, at least, expect Bonds to openly claim to want to return to the game.

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Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays has recently been the subject of trade rumors. Considering how talented he is, that’s of little surprise. On the season, Halladay has a 2.85 ERA, a record of 10-3 and a WHIP of 1.10. He’s on his way to winning 16 or more games for the fourth straight season.

Lincecum is the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner. In 2009, he’s threatening to win the award for the second straight year. For the San Francisco Giants, Lincecum has a 10-2 record with a 2.33 ERA and a WHIP of 1.05. Last season, Lincecum was 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA. At 25, he might be the best young pitcher in the game.

The All-Star game will be played in St. Louis on Tuesday night. Lincecum was selected as the starter by Charlie Manuel, the National League manager. Joe Maddon, the American League manager, selected Halladay.

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On the season, Johnson is 8-6 with a 4.81 ERA. He has 80 strikeouts in 91.2 innings. The highlight of his season so far was when he won the 300th game of his big league career. For his career, he has a 303-166 record to go along with a 3.29 ERA, 4869 strikeouts and 4131 innings pitched.

The good news is that the Giants don’t think Johnson’s shoulder strain is a long-term injury.

Said Giants manager Bruce Bochy: “As of now we hope he can pitch when his 15 days are up. We’ll continue to evaluate him but also give him time to get his arm back.”

Thanks in part to Randy Johnson, the Giants sport a 44-37 record and are in the race for the NL Wild Card. To make a legit push for the playoffs, however, San Francisco will need a healthy Big Unit.

Randy Johnson of the Giants headed to the DL (Image: Zuma Press)

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