Tim Lincecum's bad first iing dooms LA Angels

SEATTLE >> If Tim Lincecum is making progress, it’s not showing up in the box score.

Seeking to rediscover even a sliver of his Cy Young form after four dark years, Lincecum was pounded once again in the Angels’ 6-4 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

He gave up six runs — all in the first iing — and didn’t get out of the fourth, again begging the question of when this experiment will end.

After nine starts, Lincecum has a 9.16 ERA. He has not finished the sixth iing once since his Angels debut, and he has not allowed fewer than three runs since that same game.

It is possible that Lincecum’s second career start in Seattle — near his hometown — could have been his last?

The Angels could just keep ruing Lincecum out there in the rotation, as they have done despite little indication of him improving.

Otherwise, the simplest move would be to have Lincecum go to the bullpen and move Jhoulys Chacin into the rotation.

Chacin, who was demoted about a month ago, has allowed four eaed runs in 14 iings out of the bullpen.

The Angels also could ask Lincecum to accept another option to the minors, or they could release him.

His latest bad night started well enough, with a cushion before he threw his first pitch.

Mike Trout had staked him to a 3-0 lead with a three-run homer against Felix Heandez, continuing his impressive dominance over one of the game’s best pitchers. It was Trout’s sixth career homer against Heandez, equaling Mark Teixeira for the most homers allowed by Heandez.

The homer also ended Trout’s 15-game homerless drought.

Just after that iing, the Mariners rolled out a red carpet and invited Ken Griffey Jr. onto the field to be honored by the packed ballpark. The Mariners are celebrating the newly inducted Hall of Famer all weekend.

The moment apparently did little to inspire Lincecum, who was a kid in nearby Redmond during Griffey’s prime with the Mariners.

Nori Aoki led off with a single into left. Seth Smith followed with another. Robinson Cano then yanked a hit into right, driving in the first run.

Nelson Cruz hit a dribbler to third and the Angels couldn’t get an out, loading the bases again.

After Kyle Seager’s fly ball to shallow right, not deep enough to score a run, Adam Lind singled into right to drive in one more. A sacrifice fly then brought Lincecum within an out of escaping with the game tied.

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Mike Zunino then drilled a three-run homer, the 11th homer that Lincecum has allowed in 38-1/3 iings with the Angels.

It was the second time in Lincecum’s last three starts that he gave up at least six runs, a couple of low points in a season in which the high points have been pedestrian.

Manager Mike Scioscia insisted before the game that he still believed Lincecum could find something.

“He’s shown flashes,” Scioscia said. “His first game (six iings, one run) was terrific. The game in Baltimore was a great game plan, outside of a missed communication on a popup, that’s a quality start. There are some flashes there. As long as he’s making improvement, we want him to play it out. I think Tim Lincecum throwing to his capabilities would be a big lift to us.”

Clearly, that hasn’t happened though.