Rangers pitcher Timothy Lincecum allowed two runs in one inning in his first appearance on a rehab assignment for Triple-A Round Rock on Monday night. He finished strong with back-to-back strikeouts.
It was Lincecum's first time in a game since Aug. 6, 2016, when he was pitching for the Angels. The two-time Cy Young Award winner, pitching against the Iowa Cubs at the Dell Diamond, came into the game in the fifth inning in place of Express starter Austin Bibens-Dirkx.
"It was pretty nerve-wracking," Lincecum said. "The first three batters or so, my nerves were gone and my legs were shaking a little bit. But I shook it off after that."
Lincecum started by walking Chesny Young on four pitches. Young then stole second and scored on a double by Mike Freeman. A grounder to short by David Bote moved Freeman to third, and he scored on a wild pitch.
Lincecum then closed out his night by striking out Efren Navarro and Mike Zagunis. Lincecum finished with 15 pitches, including nine for strikes.
"It was about as bad as it could get with those first three batters," he said. "Starting off the first guy with a walk, going 3-0 after starting 1-0 with a penalty from not sticking with the time constraints. Other than that, it was nice to get my feet wet and get on the mound again, grasp my emotions and finish off the inning in a positive manner."
The right-hander is on the disabled list for a blister on his right middle finger.
"Physically, I feel fine," said Lincecum, 33. "It was more the nerves than anything. I was just trying to calm myself down, get my heart rate down. I've been there a thousand times and this was no different. Just being off for a while let those nerves there."