Did you understand what was happening in last night’s Giants’ game when Bruce Bochy nailed Don Mattingly for making a second trip to the  mound?

I bet you didn’t.

I sure didn’t. I never had heard of the second-trip rule used in that way. And, yes, Bochy was terrific. He knew the rule. He paid attention. He got Jonathan Broxton out of the game and made the Dodgers look unprepared. All credit to Bochy. And all credit to baseball — what a fascinating game which keeps on teaching us.

Not so terrific was Tim Lincecum. You think the guy is back to his dominant form. You think he had a minor blip in his season and he’s back and then he throws an absolute stinker like last night and you wonder what’s up. Because something has to be up. He was throwing an ordinary fastball, had lost all that speed. Is he hurt? Are his mechanics off? What gives?