"What emotions does it stir to know that Tim Lincecum is an 11-10 pitcher? Anger? Despair? Liquid hot volcanic outrage?

Or perhaps all of the above?

Lincecum sure appeared to bubble, simmer and seethe on the bench during the ninth inning Thursday night, as the Giants put the futile, finishing swings on a 1-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

But afterward, in front of notebooks and microphones, he was placid, earnest Timmy.

"Regardless of it happening consistently, or on an everyday basis, it doesn't matter," he said quietly, after losing on Chipper Jones' home run in the fifth inning. "You've got to compete with what you have on a given day. I seem to have a knack for giving up that go-ahead home run. If I can just eliminate that, I'm sure we'd be a lot more successful."

The obvious follow-up point: Almost any home run Lincecum allows is a go-ahead shot. For the 10th time in his 25 starts, the Giants failed to score one measly run for their two-time Cy Young Award winner.

This one was damaging. The Giants dropped three of four at Turner Field, where they've won just once in 18 regular-season series. So much for tightening up the N.L. wild-card race. The Braves hold a six-game edge again.

"We didn't have too many guys on base and, really, didn't get too many good swings off," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy, after left-hander Mike Minor and three relievers held a collection of slow bats to five hits. "Even when you're facing good pitching, you've got to find a way to get a run.""