Two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum has another rough outing

Tim Lincecum had his best start of the season Monday night. But, unfortunately for San Francisco Giants fans, that’s not saying much.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner had another rough start to a game, this time giving up four runs to the Philadelphia Phillies in the first inning. Lincecum already has given up nine first-inning runs in three starts this season after giving up just eight in all of last year.

He regained his composure against the Phillies, going six innings and giving up eight hits and five runs with six strikeouts and one walk. But the Giants never recovered from the disastrous start and lost, 5-2, dropping Lincecum’s record to 0-2.

After starting the season with shaky start against the Arizona Diamondbacks, going 5 1/3 innings and giving up six hits and five runs, Lincecum experienced the shortest outing of his career against the Colorado Rockies last week. In just 2 1/3 innings, he gave up six earned runs on eight hits with two walks.

So, aside from the first inning, Monday night’s performance really might have been a step in the right direction. After all, his overall ERA improved from 12.91 to 8.44. That’s a start, right?

“Right now, I have a small sample size,” Lincecum said. “It’s three starts, and I have about 30 or so left. It’s about fixing it and getting it right and being aggressive again. That’s what I can take from this outing. My last five or so innings were good, and I’m going to try to feed off that.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum has another rough outing