8 8 4 4 0 5
Game Score 55
Two ghosts from Matt Cain's past made unwelcome returns tonight as the Giants dropped the first game of three in Houston. Even a complete game was not enough for Matt to overcome these "demons" and earn his thirteen victory.
Matt's first visitor, who has been hanging with Beezy more often lately, must have really brought back bad memories of the last two years. Lord knows that Matt and "lack of run support" were joined at the hip for awhile (last year a ridiculous 3.1 runs per game!) but we all thought they had called it quits. Not tonight. The Giants were a pathetic 2 for 10 RISP... and one of those was a hit where Renteria was thrown out at home by a mile! Rowand and Edgar also had amazingly inept CALLED third strikes in HUGE situations. We demonstrated an incredible ability to blow all types of scoring chances. It is rather sickeningly impressive how bad we can be on offense. See, I'm trying to be positive about it.
The other beast was of Matt's own doing. The dreaded XBH - extra base hit. Matt didn't give up many hits (8) but they were doozies: one double, two triples, and two home runs. I believe the Matsui HR was on a 0-2 pitch - OUCH! I suppose that Matt's style will always lead to many flyballs, and therefore, some homers. He did show that the XBH shouldn't kill you if you don't walk anybody. However, put it together with ingredient #1 and even our own Tennesee Stud was no match.
Well, better luck next time Matt. Don't worry, #13 awaits.
4 comments:
Is it just me, or does Matt throw an in ordinante number of knee high pitches over the plate (not necessarily 'grooved, but over the plate)??
Oooohhhh, I meant 'belt-high,' not knee high
He likes to announce his presence with authority and throw the high hard one by hitters. Very often it's unhittable. Not always.
He pitched a complete game. That's a great accomplishment in this day and age. This is not a step backward, just an L.
I would agree that Matt straight up challenges more batters than any other starter, even Tim. Matt will always be a fastball guy first and foremost. Chris at BayCityBall did a great piece that showed that Matt had one of the most effective fastballs in the game. (Tim's changeup was the best pitch in baseball by far) So I do think your observation is on the mark. Here's the link.
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