The kid is amazing.  I guess, perhaps, I should say the Freak is amazing, though I am not too hip to that moniker for this guy.  Still, he two-hit a pretty good hitting Cardinals team last night.  Not only that, this young guy looked at the line-up before the game and only allowed concern to creep into his head for a moment according to this Henry Schulman piece.

“When I saw the lineup card today, I thought they’re throwing some pretty good guys out there,” Lincecum said. “But then I thought, ‘I’m good. I’m here for a reason. I can get these guys out if I make my pitches the way I need to.’ “

How do you get that confident at that age?  Still, it backs up my #1 tenet- At the big league level, the only thing that separates the good from the great is belief in themselves.  Or as Tug McGraw might say, ‘You Gotta Believe.’

Not only did Lincecum pitch lights out, but the Giants were able to score 10-runs, something that doesn’t happen a whole lot in China Basin these days.  The Giants don’t have much hope of beating the Dodgers for the NL West title, with Manny Ramirez coming back next week, but they are leading the Wildcard standings, 1.5 games ahead of  St. Louis and Colorado (yes I said Colorado).   All you Giants fans, well, you have to believe too.