San Francisco Giants right-hander Tim Lincecum, aka “The Freak”, brought his freak show to St. Louis on Monday night. Two hours and six minutes later, the Cardinals were scared out of their own ballpark on two measly hits, no walks and eight strikeouts as Lincecum spun a complete-game shutout.

The Giants offense also managed to plate ten runs in a most economical performance that at least put Cardinals fans out of their collective misery quickly, if not painfully. And in case you didn’t notice, the perennial doormat Giants have a better record (41-34) this season than do the reeling Cardinals (41-37).

It was the second time in a week that St. Louis was shut out in a double-digit output from their opponent. I was in New York last Wednesday when the Mets hung 11 on the Cards. Perhaps not coincidentally, Brad Thompson started both games.

Let’s give credit where credit is due, however. As opposed to New York’s Fernando Nieve, whose hold on a rotation spot is as tenuous as Thompson’s, and was hammered his next time out, the Cardinals lost to an elite pitcher on Monday.

With a bow to another long-haired entertainer from another generation, the late Rick James, I call Lincecum’s performance a “super freak” job, as it was the 25-year-old’s second consecutive shutout over the Cardinals. His last time out against St. Louis, on April 18 of last season, Lincecum went seven scoreless, also at Busch.

Over his four career starts against St. Louis, three on the road, the right-hander has amassed a 4-0 record, a 1.61 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and an opposing batting average of .204. That, my friends, is total dominance!

Sure, the Cardinals are in a terrible slump offensively, but to go off on the players and coaches because of what happened Monday night is ridiculous. Of course, that is exactly what the message board and call-in show extremists have done.

The Cards missed Lincecum during their only 2009 trip to San Francisco at the end of May. As a result, they will most likely not have to face “The Freak” again until 2010. At that time, Lincecum will have the opportunity to dominate the Cardinals as no other opposing pitcher has done since 1956.

In what has to be one of the most impressive runs ever, Bob Friend of the Pittsburgh Pirates tossed three consecutive complete game shutout outings against St. Louis – all during a three-week period in May and June of 1956. Friend is the only opposing hurler to spin three straight shutouts at St. Louis in at least the last 55 years.

Lincecum joins 51 other pitchers in having put together two consecutive scoreless starts against the Cardinals since 1954. The list includes Hall of Famers like Steve Carlton as well as obscure pitchers such as Amaury Telemaco (23 career MLB wins).

It only seems fitting that a Giant, Jim Barr, was the pitcher to throw three pairs of consecutive shutouts at the Cardinals, in 1972, 1974 and 1978. The complete list follows, thanks to Tom Orf.

	Teams	StreakStart	Streak End	G	W	L	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Bob Friend	PIT	5/23/1956	6/16/1956	3	3	0	3	3	3	27	20	0	0	7	16
Tim Lincecum	SFG	4/19/2008	6/29/2009	2	2	0	2	1	1	16	8	0	0	3	13
Jake Peavy	SDP	5/11/2007	8/7/2007	2	2	0	2	0	0	13	6	0	0	4	15
Brad Hennessey	SFG	7/9/2005	8/19/2005	2	1	0	2	0	0	14.1	8	0	0	4	5
Greg Maddux	ATL	5/5/2002	4/23/2003	2	2	0	2	0	0	13	7	0	0	1	7
Justin Thompson	DET	6/23/1998	6/13/1999	2	1	0	2	0	0	14.2	8	0	0	5	13
Amaury Telemaco	CHC-ARI	7/14/1996	6/20/1998	2	0	0	2	0	0	5	5	0	0	4	0
Greg Maddux	ATL	6/27/1996	5/16/1997	2	1	0	2	0	0	15	10	0	0	2	14
Greg Maddux	ATL	8/20/1995	9/5/1995	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	9	0	0	0	17
Chris Hammond	FLA	5/21/1994	7/28/1995	2	1	0	2	0	0	9	6	0	0	5	6
Mike Hampton	HOU	5/5/1995	6/28/1995	2	2	0	2	0	0	15	8	0	0	2	14
Bobby Jones	NYM	9/29/1993	5/7/1994	2	1	0	2	1	1	19	12	0	0	7	14
Ramon Martinez	LAD	7/9/1992	8/22/1993	2	2	0	2	1	1	17	7	0	0	6	14
Bret Saberhagen	NYM	4/23/1992	9/24/1992	2	0	0	2	0	0	17	10	0	0	0	8
Shawn Boskie	CHC	6/8/1992	6/16/1992	2	0	0	2	0	0	4.2	2	0	0	1	2
Orel Hershiser	LAD	6/4/1991	6/14/1991	2	0	0	2	0	0	12.1	8	0	0	7	7
Zane Smith	PIT	9/21/1990	5/29/1991	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	6	0	0	2	15
Mike Morgan	LAD	4/24/1990	5/26/1990	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	8	0	0	1	9
Dennis Cook	PHI	4/15/1990	4/20/1990	2	2	0	2	1	1	17.2	10	0	0	4	4
Doug Drabek	PIT	9/13/1989	9/27/1989	2	1	0	2	2	2	14	8	0	0	2	8
Sid Fernandez	NYM	10/1/1988	8/1/1989	2	2	0	2	1	1	15	5	0	0	6	9
Rick Reuschel	SFG	7/24/1988	5/6/1989	2	2	0	2	1	1	15	12	0	0	4	4
Fernando Valenzuela	LAD	7/20/1985	5/3/1986	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	8	0	0	2	15
David Palmer	MON	4/21/1984	6/20/1984	2	1	0	2	1	1	13	6	0	0	0	8
Bob Knepper	HOU	5/23/1984	5/29/1984	2	2	0	2	1	1	16.2	12	0	0	5	11
Jeff Robinson	SFG	4/7/1984	5/4/1984	2	2	0	2	0	0	14	9	0	0	6	10
Bryn Smith	MON	9/19/1983	9/28/1983	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	9	0	0	5	11
Steve Carlton	PHI	6/28/1982	9/13/1982	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	9	0	0	4	16
Nino Espinosa	PHI	7/4/1980	9/12/1980	2	0	0	2	0	0	15	6	0	0	1	1
Jim Barr	SFG	5/3/1978	5/14/1978	2	1	0	2	1	1	9.1	6	0	0	1	2
Rick Reuschel	CHC	7/3/1977	7/7/1977	2	1	0	2	1	1	15.2	13	0	0	3	7
Steve Renko	CHC	9/4/1976	6/30/1977	2	1	0	2	0	0	13.2	12	0	0	2	12
Woodie Fryman	MON	7/28/1976	9/19/1976	2	2	0	2	1	1	15	12	0	0	7	10
Fred Norman	CIN	6/13/1976	9/1/1976	2	1	0	2	0	0	16	13	0	0	7	14
Jon Matlack	NYM	4/20/1976	7/1/1976	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	11	0	0	5	12
Don Sutton	LAD	4/29/1976	5/11/1976	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	10	0	0	1	7
Don Gullett	CIN	8/18/1975	8/28/1975	2	2	0	2	1	1	14	8	0	0	3	8
Jerry Reuss	PIT	4/30/1975	6/19/1975	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	11	0	0	3	10
Jim Barr	SFG	6/17/1974	5/18/1975	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	10	0	0	6	8
Jon Matlack	NYM	9/22/1973	6/29/1974	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	5	0	0	4	16
Jim Barr	SFG	8/29/1972	4/27/1973	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	5	0	0	1	4
Steve Carlton	PHI	4/19/1972	8/5/1972	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	8	0	0	1	12
Don Gullett	CIN	6/16/1971	8/18/1971	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	11	0	0	3	10
Dock Ellis	PIT	7/9/1970	6/1/1971	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	8	0	0	4	14
Sandy Koufax	LAD	9/18/1965	9/25/1965	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	9	0	0	4	18
Sandy Koufax	LAD	9/17/1963	4/14/1964	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	10	0	0	0	9
John Tsitouris	CIN	9/20/1963	9/27/1963	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	5	0	0	3	11
Tony Cloninger	MLN	7/3/1962	9/5/1962	2	1	0	2	1	1	10	5	0	0	4	4
Dick Drott	CHC	5/21/1961	7/18/1961	2	0	0	2	0	0	8	3	0	0	4	5
Glen Hobbie	CHC	9/25/1960	5/19/1961	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	13	0	0	3	9
Bob Buhl	MLN	6/11/1959	7/31/1959	2	2	0	2	2	2	18	8	0	0	5	13
Joey Jay	MLN	7/23/1958	6/24/1959	2	2	0	2	2	2	16	10	0	0	3	9
Jim Brosnan	CHC	9/3/1956	4/15/1958	2	2	0	2	1	1	15	14	0	0	8	12