Sunday, March 23, 2008

6 5 Zero Zero 1 EIGHT

(This is JCP standing in for the vacationing MOC. He might still get off his lazy butt and post a gem about our "bhoy" but I figured I better cover it, just in case. We here at RMC (at least the one's NOT on vacation) feel a deep responsibility to serve our readers. (I sure hope it is plural!)

Are you ready for it? The first one of the spring.....

WooHoo!

A dominant (is there any other kind?) Matt Cain dispatched the Rangers with 6 scoreless innings that featured 8 K's. Only two runners reached scoring position as the Hurra-Cain extended his scoreless streak to 11 innings.

"He had some long innings," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Cain. "I thought he did a good job keeping his concentration."

Of course, a different perspective comes from GiantsFan 9 (of the spectacular Giants Jottings):
" I don't know what game Bochy was watching, because I thought Cain was about as economical with his pitches as I have ever seen him be. The notoriously slow starter needed only 15 pitches to get out of the first, after allowing a 1 out single, but having the runner gunned down on a caught stealing by a beautiful throw from Benjie Molina. In the 3rd and 4th innings, Cain was even more economical as he took only 9 pitches to complete each inning. The only inning where he had a high pitch count was in his last inning (the 6th) when he threw 25 pitches and had the only inning where he allowed 2 men to reach base (including the only walk he gave up all day). Even with the long 6th inning, Matt threw a total of only 88 pitches (60 for strikes) and finished the inning with back-to-back strikeouts. Those of us who have seen Matt regularly reach the 100 pitch count through 5 innings or so are perfectly happy with Matt throwing this many "long innings" all year long. He also only allowed 2 batters to reach as far as 2B (1 to third) and faced more than 4 batters in an inning only once (the 6th)......so I am not sure where the test was that required him "keeping his concentration". Sometimes the things the Giants coaching and management staff have to say just leaves me scratching my head and saying "HUH?"

Is anyone else always amazed at how dim the staff and regular reporters are when compared to the legion of dedicated bloggers?

2 comments:

M.C. O'Connor said...

T'anks, bra, for steppin' up!!!

MC is da man!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

And for icing, Zito went scoreless for his start the previous day and Tim gave up 2 in 7 afterwards. I can live with two runs from our three top starters each time out. More important than the result is the timing - they are pulling it together as they approach the time when it matters. Unlike the rest of the lineup.