It was an evening for Milestones Denied, and Bruce Bochy's thoroughly rational decision to have Brian Wilson close the game should not be held against him. But Matt Cain was denied a complete game (it would have been his third in a row), and his Stopperesque Studliness should not be disrespected like that.
For the second straight start, no. 18 was dominant against a good-hitting club (.332 wOBA T4th NL), and for the fourth time this year has gone at least 8 IP. After three ND starts to open the season, he's had a decision (4-4) in the next eight. Cain has allowed 3, 3, 2, 2, 0, 2, 5, 2, 0, 0, 1 ER in those eleven outings, failing to go at least 6 IP only once. If we think of tonight's start as one-third of the way through Matt's season, he's on pace to give the Giants 229 IP, 153 H, 60 ER, 12 HR, 75 BB, and 168 SO. That would be one hell of a line for a guy to be 12-12! Let's hope we see more of tonight's offense--I know it was only four runs, but with Cain dealing it was enough. Great to see Buster Posey swinging the bat well, and both Rowand and Molina showed signs of The Resurrection with big RBI hits.
Final line on Cain: 30 TBF (1st pitch strike to 20), 5 GB, 14 FB, 3 BB, 5 K, 114 pitches to get 24 outs. Great night for the Tennesse Stud, nice win for the club, avoiding the sweep and perhaps taking some "mo" from the 6-3 homestand to Pittsburgh. Let's hope the bats come alive against the Pirates woeful pitching--their 4.74 FIP is next-to-last in the NL.
--M.C.
9 comments:
With Cain's luck, I can picture an umpire blowing the last call of his future perfect game. It would only happen to someone like him. Wait...
At this point Cain is clearly the team's best pitcher. Sadly, Lincecum is #4. And Wellemeyer has been looking better and better.
Wait till his road start and then tell me he's getting better. Who cares who the best pitcher currently is on the staff? If we keep winning games, does it really matter? We have 4 great pitchers with another in AAA. Pitching with this team never scares me, we just need a friggin hitter (though it'd be nice if the wild pitches stopped happening and double plays from Pablo make me sad).
Hey anonymous, I like what you write. Are you the same person over and over or are there many of you? We don't know. For heavens sake get an ID so we know who's who.
Was Cain "clearly" the best two weeks ago? Of course, he did just have his two best starts EVER (pretty much). Calling Tim #4 after his two worst outings EVER (pretty much) is kinda fickle, don't you think? You might also remind yourself that Tim should have 3 more wins (arguably 4) due to bullpen failure...but I guess that's nitpicking.
From here on out, which of our starters is going to improve? And which are going to "regress"? I think everyone pretty much knows the answer to both of those questions.
We get consistent, quality innings from our guys week after week. That's the key to the team. They'll all have ups and downs, but over the long haul (assuming full health) we are going to get a very high percentage of "quality starts" with some outstanding ones thrown in as well. If we had a lineup with that kind of depth and talent we'd win 100+ games. Hell, if we had an "above-average" lineup we'd be the West favorites every season.
Bowker down, Burrell up.
Gag me.
Lincecum peaked at the beginning of his career. Cain has always been good and continues to get better, year after year. Lincecum is dominant NOW, but Cain is ascending slowly, but surely. It's a pleasure to watch them both.
I was just trying to provoke my brother.
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