You've heard by now that Tim Lincecum is starting for the Giants Sunday at AT&T Park. My COLUMN TODAY was all about other "Lincecums" across the west who've been following the Grizzlies pitcher, just because he has the same unusual last name.

It just so happened that while I was writing the column, a preview to what was supposed to be Lincecum's sixth start for the Grizzlies today, the Giants put Russ Ortiz and most of his ERA on the DL. That meant Lincecum would be called up and take Ortiz' start on Sunday on ESPN. If you bought tickets for tonight's Grizzlies game hoping to see him throw one more time, sorry, you waited too long. Enjoy the Friday night fireworks.

The Giants probably wanted to wait a couple more months, and the Grizzlies definitely did, but what can you do? The kid has given up one run in five starts. His last start he struck out 12 in six innings. Why waste another pitch in the minors?

I was already going to spend this weekend in San Francisco, running in "The Relay," the nickname for the Relay for Organ Donation. It's a 199-mile relay race from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. For you non-Californians, it starts waaaay north of the Bay, and ends waaaaay south of the Bay. There are 12 runners on each team and you each run three legs of around 6 miles apiece. It's a continuous race. You run at night. You run along lonely highways. You run in downtown San Francisco. You sleep in a van. One runner gets to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. It's crazier than Wal-Mart Thanksgiving prices. (That's what I'm told. I've never done it before.)

The Fresno team I'm on is called, "Slow ... the New Fast," and I'll be writing a Sunday column about the whole experience. I'll try to post updates and photos here, as well.

The race starts Saturday morning and ends Sunday afternoon. So as soon as the race ends on the beach in Santa Cruz, I'm driving to the Giants' game to cover Lincecum's debut. Hopefully, I'll still be able to walk by then. Should be entertaining.