Lincecum freakishly good in return

OAKLAND, Calif. — The uniform was different. The flowing shaggy brown hair was gone. The fastball had lost a little zip.

Even so, “The Freak” came back as a force.

Tim Lincecum made a winning return to the majors, restarting his career after nearly a year away with six sharp innings to lead the Angels over the Athletics 7-1 on Saturday.

“It just kind of felt like riding a bike again,” Lincecum said. “After that first inning, everything went away and I could just get back to work making my pitches.”

The four-time All-Star gave up one run on four hits, striking out two and walking two, before leaving to a raucous ovation.

The 32-year-old righty hadn’t pitched in the majors since last June 27. He had hip surgery in September, signed with the Angels in May and made three starts in the minors.

“It felt like my mechanics were a little erratic,” Lincecum said. “Got into some deep counts, but I made pitches when I needed to, and my defense made plays. Definitely an area when I can improve on, but happy with it.”

Lincecum was followed by television cameras and received a standing ovation from fans of both teams as he walked to the bullpen to warm up. A second, louder ovation greeted Lincecum when he took the mound.

“It was pretty incredible,” he said “I wasn’t expecting that. It’s nice being here close to where I started and having my Bay Area fans here. Definitely made it feel like a home game to me.”

Lincecum breezed through the first two innings, then struggled with his command in the third when Danny Valencia’s two-out, broken-bat single on a 3-0 pitch drove in Billy Burns.

But that was the only blemish on Lincecum’s day.