Tim Lincecum

An amped-up Lincecum gave up a ringing double to the first batter of Thursday's opening game of the National League Division Series. But the night got better for the waiflike ace -- emotionally, aesthetically and historically.
Calming down after Omar Infante's leadoff hit, Lincecum retired 27 of the final 29 batters he faced. With the coldblooded dispassion of a repo man, Lincecum pitched what has to be the best game by a Giants pitcher in the postseason, a complete-game two-hitter featuring a stupendous 14 strikeouts.
In a related development, the Giants won 1-0 in a game that seemed at once unbearably tense and -- because of the way Lincecum was dealing -- a foregone conclusion.
The postseason, they say, is a different beast. Lincecum was the same old Freak, only freakier -- buzzing the Braves with low-90s fastballs, dazzling them with 87-mph sliders and paralyzing them with 84-mph changeups that moved like bubbles in the wind.
In a five-batter span bridging the first and second innings, he struck out Derrek Lee, Brian McCann, Alex Gonzalez, Matt Diaz and Brooks Conrad -- in a row, all swinging.
He struck out eight of the nine Braves starters at least once. He allowed just one runner past second base. Despite a 20-pitch first inning, he had thrown only 105 pitches through eight.