Is Lincecum having elbow or arm issues? By Ken Gimblin and Joe Cronin May 26, 2010     SAN FRANCISCO--There was talk concerning Giant pitcher Tim Lincecum's arm after his previous start to Wednesday night's game at AT&T when he pitched back on Thursday May 20th in Arizona and lasted for five innings five hits and five runs. At that time there was concern about his arm and was he wearing it down after contorting his arm to his "freakish" name tag for his style of pitching and that he finally is feeling the knots or arm pain that would be expected from somebody who would throw like that. Lincecum in the May 20th game did not get the decision and held his 5-0 record intact. The game Wednesday night was a bit different he got his first loss of the season and his control was questionable after going 4.2 innings and surrendering six runs on six hits. Manager Bruce Bochy did not address any arm issues for Lincecum but sources inside the Giants clubhouse have said that Lincecum has thrown around an average of close to over 100 pitches per start and he could have tweaked his elbow or arm which lends to his having velocity issues. Lincecum had thrown 93 MPH in Wednesday night's game against the Washington Nationals in the 7-3 loss and left in the fifth inning, "there will be times this year we'll try to get starters an extra day to rejuvenate them for the rest of the year." said Bochy. Bochy has planned to skip the fifth spot in the rotation to give Lincecum an extra five days to rest his arm but decided against it. Subsequently Lincecum didn't miss a turn and because of Bochy considering having Lincecum skipping a start it leads credence that he is having arm issues. Ken & Joe Show Giant notes: The Giants Edgar Renteria who suffered groin injury issues in spring training only to come back in early May then went out on the D.L. again and returned for two games was placed on the D.L. on Wednesday night by Bochy due to a hamstring strain. Nate Schierholtz who suffered from shoulder pain was back in the line up on Wednesday night and Giants second baseman Freddy Sanchez who San Francisco expects alot of this season due to missing a lot of baseball due to injuries since last season is hitting .192 through seven games went 0-4 at the plate on Wednesday night. Sanchez who went through rehab earlier this month is expected to help out with hitting that is almost non-existent in the last two weeks for the Giants. The Giants with the loss to Washington on Wednesday have lost seven of their last nine games and will need to get the offense going if they plan to string a few wins together. Ken Gimblin and Joe Cronin cover Giants baseball each week for Sportstalk Radio

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