Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Streak snapped

Smoking hot Gaby Sanchez got the big hit off Matt Cain last night in the 3rd inning to seal the deal for the Marlins and end the Giants win streak. Cain could not convince home plate umpire Chad Fairchild that his pitches on the outside corner were strikes. He walked two guys with two outs in front of the Florida first baseman.
"That's my fault. That can't happen," Cain said. "That can't happen at all and that's the reason we lost. I didn't make the pitches to get him out and finish the inning." (ESPN article)
Yeah, that's about the size of it. The Giants have had a hard time scoring runs, and falling behind 3-0 to a good team is not a formula for success. Starter Ricky Nolasco nearly made it a shutout but a couple of hits in the 9th from Buster Posey and Cody Ross brought in closer Leo Nunez to finish it.

Cain was uncharacteristically expressive on the mound in the fateful 3rd inning. His frustration was obvious, and he kept asking Fairchild where the pitches were missing. Walking back to the dugout the camera caught him giving the ump a piece of his mind, and he shook his head at him with a look of disgust. The Marlins seemed determined to lay off the borderline pitches and forced Cain to come in to get strikes. Balls on the outside corner or up in the zone that would normally induce popups, weak flies, and grounders--the Matt Cain game plan--were just not tempting enough for the Florida hitters. The Marlins are 13-7 on the road, the Giants 13-6 at home. Madison Bumgarner goes tonight.

--M.C.

2 comments:

Zo said...

It was obvious that Cain was getting jobbed. He had the same pitch called a strike, then twice for a ball. Nevertheless, it appeared that the Marlins were a superior team in every baseball aspect last night.

Brother Bob said...

Two years ago this was a typical Matt Cain game. The boy could not get a break.