Seriously what could possibly be gained here?

You're the San Francisco Giants. You have the best pitcher in baseball under the age of 25, and you've been out of contention since March. You save his arm right?

Wrong.

I have to give a big Why would you do that? shoutout to the Giants who sent NL Cy Young front runner the 24 year old Tim Lincecum out there for 138 pitches last night. I understand he was pitching a shutout and he's about the only guy the fans come to watch, but they were up 7-0 going into the 9th so the win was secure and they have nothing to gain in the standings at this point in the season.

Look, Lincecum at 24 is already one of the top 5 pitchers in baseball and he figures to be the centerpiece in the Giants rebuilding process despite the fact that they almost traded him to Toronto last offseason (imagine that rotation for a second). All the more reason to save his young arm for when your team might actually be in contention. Then again, they are so bad that it might not happen while Lincecum is still there.

The Giants don't seem to care. Tim has thrown over 100 pitches in 24 of his 30 starts including 5 over 120. Why don't they just call Dr. James Andrews and make TJ reservations?