This game can be summed up in two words: Matt Cain! Make that three words: Matthew Thomas Cain! I mean, Dude is just unbelievably nails, game after game year after year! Oh, and Dude is a freaking horse too! Words so fail to describe what Matt Cain means to this team. I am literally shaking and in tears as I am writing this right now. When you strip away Panda hats, the beards, the misfits stuff, not that there is anything wrong with those or that they aren't important, but when you get past all that superficial stuff and get down to the heart and soul, the absolute bedrock of this team, you get to one name: Matthew Thomas Cain! Hoss got exactly 1 unearned run to work with, and it came late in the game, and with 2 innings of help from the bullpen, he made it stand up. 1 unearned run and it was enough! Simply unbelievable! Key Lines:
Matthew Thomas Cain- 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.22. That's it! There really is nothing else to say about this game. Cainer came into it having accumulated 2.1 WAR already this season. I don't know how many more he added in this one, bu in my book, he deserves another full WAR.
The other games from the NL West are not all in yet. The Rockies and Dodgers both lost. With Justin Verlander going for Detroit against the D'Backs, the Giants have a good shot at moving their flag back to the top of the Standings Pole tonight.
Madison Bumgarner tries to rebound from his nightmare last start and get that sweep for the Giants tomorrow against Fausto Carmona in a 5 PM ESPN game, so it should be another low scoring affair.
Addendum: Missed the bases-loaded balk that got the Giants their lone run. I didn't see it, but the Indians apparently didn't contest it, so I assume it was legit. Probably would have scored that inning anyway if Nate hadn't slipped trying to stretch a double into a triple.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Matt Cain is without a doubt my favorite Giants player. His having gone to the same high school as my son and daughter just makes it a bit more special for me.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I'm afraid that Sabean et al won't make the necessary moves to improve the team as long the Giants maintain a .500+ record. This offense is pathetic. Burriss cannot hit the ball out of the infield, and doesn't play defense well enough to justify his presence in the lineup. Crawford and Stewart I can live with, given their defensive skills. Pablo is still not full strength, and I can give him a pass as well. But everybody else is suspect.
And, as everybody knows, the Zito and Rowand contracts now handcuff the organization in trying to upgrade the roster from without. So here's hoping that Hector Sanchez, Brandon Belt, and Thomas Neal can provide some punch after the All Star Game.
cain should be named to the as staff...just not sure where he comes up in the rotation before the game
ReplyDeletei have never seen nate trip...at any level...that was frickin weird
madbum should do better with the help of the shadows
in fact...nobody is gonna score before 7 pm
I don't accept that contracts are handcuffing this team. The Giants are swimming in money and Neuks has shown he is willing to do what it takes to win. Neuks has also said that he is not going to mortgage the future for short term fixes and he is not going to block prospects with long term contracts for veterans. We'll see how it plays out, but I don't believe money is a rate-limiting step for the Giants.
ReplyDeletelyle
ReplyDeletethe giants have lost their two best offensive weapons...and everyone in the majors knows this
to bitch about sabean is just a waste of time
to get help...the giants are going to have to give up alot...and they arent going to do that for a rental
hector may be hurt...we will see if he is in the fresno lineup tonight
belt aint gonna be back for a long while...even he has admitted that he needs to see alot more pitching at aaa before he can make a return
neal might get used in a trade...possibly for a catcher....i like the kid...but so do a bunch of scouts
and doc, as for your suggestion about surkamp...as he is just returning from the dl...highly unlikely he will get the call...he is on a hard pitch count
Yeah, Since it's a one time crunch, the smart thing to do is probably to give Mota the ball for 4 innings and make it a bullpen game. That does put some pressure on the other starters though. No guarantee that a minor league callup is going to last 4 innings though.
ReplyDeletebaggs is now reporting that durty is admitting to experiencing arm weakness over his last 3 starts...but was hoping to hold it together till the break
ReplyDeletewhy wont ball players be honest about their injuries
also that romo is experiencing some weakness..which is why zito was activated today...so giants are now short one reliever or a bit
the extra work of last season is finally taking its toll
Romo has arm weakness? He's been hitting 90 MPH with his FB, I thought the problem might be that he was too STRONG and not gettng the movement that makes him so deadly. It's a long season and as hard as pitchers have to throw to be competitive these days, it's probably wise to keep a stable of 2 or 3 in AAA that can be shuttled in and out to give the regulars a break during the season.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see what Romo's problem was in the latest news, so I assumed that it was his trick knee affecting him more than thought. Has there been a new report?
ReplyDeleteI understand why people think the Giants are handcuffed by the big contracts, but really, any competing team is weighted down by a bad contract, that is just the way this business works. And if they would be honest with themselves, they would know that at least one of the contracts is because of Pete Magowan's edict, not Sabean's decision.
To me, complaining about the contracts is just showing that the complainer is a Sabean hater and just use any reason to complain.
As DrB has made clear often, the big picture is that the Giants have a great pitching staff for the foreseeable future, with other young'uns coming up soon. On top of that, we have our core middle lineup in Posey, Sandoval, and Belt, and a lot of good possibilities for the other starting positions in Brown, Panik, Neal, Crawford, and perhaps others. And Sabean is the one who put that all together.
I just want to see Sabean try the kids out of the farm system more often. Bill Hall was a great player and heavy on the was. Now they are playing with outs at C, SS and RF. I understand the pitching staff (BULLPEN and starters) can carry a team but how they pulled of the balk thing is scary. The Will Not to Lose drives Bochy and guys...
ReplyDeleteBochy sounds as country as Cain or Bumgarner.
Anon,
ReplyDeleteWhere do you get the notion that Sabean and Bochy are not willing to play the kids? Here's a list of homegrown players they have brought up in the last several years and who are either starters or are/have played a significant role on the team: Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner, Brian Wilson, Sergio Romo, Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, Nate Schierholtz, Travis Ishikawa. This year, whether it be out of necessity or whatever, they have given opportunities to Brandon Belt, Darren Ford, Emmanuel Burriss, Brandon Crawford. I really don't think you can point to any other team in baseball and show a stronger commitment to bringing in players from within the organization.
As far as immediate help on the farm goes, let's take a look at who is down there:
OF: Thomas Neal, Tyler Graham. Maaaaybe you could make a case for one of these, but Graham really looks like a 4'th or 5'th OF, and Neal has only had a few AAA AB's. He's probably not really ready.
SS: There really isn't anyone. Crawford is already up. Maybe EdGone, but he's not really a shortstop and he's a journeyman, not really a "kid".
C: Sanchez just got promoted from Single A. Single A! Surely you are not going to criticize Sabean and Bochy for not already bringing him up, right?
This is a team that has been hit by an unusual series of major injuries. Some were possibly predictable, most were not. Sabean possibly could have done a better job filling the shortstop vacancy this winter, but I'm not so sure. The Padres gave away half their bullpen for Jason Bartlett, the guy a lot of Giants fans seemed to want. How is that working out?
man.. i wish i could have seen this game. cain is a beast!
ReplyDelete