Gregor Blanco- 2 for 5, HR(4), BA= .280. Blanco also made a sensational catch in CF, that's right, CF coming all the way over from his RF position running at full speed with his back to the ball, he laid out at the last second to bring it in landing on the dirt of the warning track. Blanco has been nothing short of miraculous since joining this team. If you didn't see him in the interview with Matt and Buster after the game, you really missed something special. The guy has a smile that just won't stop. You can tell he loves the game and is loving every minute that he has to play it.
Ryan Theriot- 2 for 4. BA= .260. I think Theriot has nailed down the 2B/2 hole position for the forseeable future.
Melky Cabrera- 2 for 5, HR(5). BA= .367. Every time I think Cabrera is cooling off, he comes up with a game like this. Sign Melky!
Buster Posey- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .294. Buster called a perfect game!
Pablo Sandoval- 3 for 4, 2B. Pablo broke out of his mini-slump after returning from the DL. Woo-hoo! Watch out for this offense!
Brandon Belt- 2 for 3, HR(2), BB. BA= .238. Speaking of watching out for this offense.....! Belt is heating up!!
Matthew Thomas Cain- 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 14 K's. ERA= 2.18. My eyes misted over a bit as I typed his name. I can't say this game was a surprise. I think every one of us has believed Matt Cain has the ability to pitch a no-hitter and even a perfect game almost since the day he broke into the major leagues. He's taken several into the 7'th inning. He's pitches several 1 hitters. I believe we are now witnessing the prime of Matt Cain's career, or maybe we aren't! He is still getting better, after all. His current line stands at 8-2, 2.18, 95 IP, 16 BBB, 96 Ks'! I expect to see an article on Fangraphs tomorrow explaining why his xFIP proves he is going to regress or else scratching their heads about why he just keeps getting better rather than regressing. Ha! Take THAT Fangraphs!
The Giants record now stands at 36-27. The Dodgers lost to the Angels 2-1 allowing the Giants to move up to a 3.5 game deficit in second place in the NL West. They now lead Atlanta by 2 games for the top Wild Card playoff spot.
Barry Zito tries for the sweep of the 'Stros tomorrow afternoon facing Wandy Rodriguez.
I believe there is a growing feeling among Giants fans that this is a special team. With Pablo Sandoval back and Brandon Belt finally heating up, it has the capability of becoming an offensive force to back up the already sensational pitching. Tim Lincecum is the final missing piece to a dominant team and I think that's going to happen too.
More than it being a special team, I feel like we are in the midst of a special era of Giants baseball that could go on for several more years if not more than a decade. Just think about that for awhile.
Oh, and one last thing. Just 3 words:
Matthew Thomas Cain!
Ha! Dave Cameron already has a post up on Fangraphs. It seems that by a stat called Gamescore, Matt Cain just tied Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan for the second most dominant game in baseball history behind Kerry Wood's 20 K game. He ties Sandy Koufax for the most K's in a perfect game and for the most dominant perfect game him history.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff!!
That catch Blanco caught was amazing i did not think anyone was going to catch that ball.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Matt to a historical game and all the players who made the plays behind him.
DeleteI read Blanco was instructed to play that hitter towards center left. Good job by the coaches and scouts!!!
In all, the organization should be proud. Home grown perfect game pitcher. It's good to see that when you invest energy, time and money, you are rewarded with success, instead of seeing gimmicks like constantly flipping coming stars for more prospects just to claim you have 'discovered' more great players than other GM's making you a genius.
That was incredible.
ReplyDeleteBlanco's catch was impossible. I've never been so sure of a hit as that one. After the game Miller was saying how Mays had been talking to the outfielders about how far down his hand he held his glove to get that extra inch of extension. Was Blanco doing that?
I was no-hitter starved before Sanchez. Always minding the hit column for the opposition. And I've always wanted another one. But never, ever even hoped for this. Just an amazing gift.
Blanco's catch...
DeleteWhen I first saw the reply, I thought he was playing center field - and running into the gap. Still can't believe he came out of right field to catch that ball.
Got to say it again, still can't believe he came out of right field to catch that ball.
Also loved Melky's bemused grin when that HR bound bound ball was knocked down by the ATT park gods and landed in his mitt. It was out'a here in any other park.
Mays must be smiling.
Blanco's catch... MLB network played the spanish broadcast version. Very fun stuff.
DeleteMelky's wasn't so bad either, that was a tough play as well.
Yes, incredible!
DeleteAs I watched the replay of that catch (I listened to the game), my first thought was "If Schierholtz was playing, he don't make that catch". I love Nate, but Blanco's got wheels. Yeah, amazing, right?!? That's not a RF play.
The wonder I felt after seeing that is up there with Shinjo's amazing barehanded pickup of a ball that flew over the RF's head and bounced off the wall, then he rifled a no bounce throw to the catcher, dead-on, to catch the runner trying to score from 1B for the out. Amazing play that Blanco made!
I am so thankful to be able to watch the perfect game coverage on ESPN and MLB Network, while enjoying listening to the KNBR coverage. Blanco's catch will go down as one of the greatest in Giants history.. On the final out, my initial reacton was "OH NO"! when I saw Arias stumble to his right and make a flat footed throw to 1st base, and total elation watching Belt catch what was a perfect strike! On this special night, I really appreciate the beauty of the game of baseball watching a great pitcher make history for himself, watching his team support him with great defensive plays is just awesome!
ReplyDeleteLG
Dave Fleming made a great call on the final out on the radio and so did Duane Kuiper on TV. We will hear it for years to come..
ReplyDeleteLG
I attended the minor league game out in San Bernardino, so missed most of it. That's OK, BTW, because I'm just superstitious enough to think that if I had watched the whole thing on TV, it wouldn't have happened. Anyway, I caught the last inning on KNBR while driving home. Last out was made just as I pulled into the driveway and I watched the celebration, interviews and replays on TV pretty late until I wrote this post.
DeleteSuperstition was in full effect from the 6th inning on. I was not answering phone calls. Of which a few people wanted to be sure I was watching.
DeleteI stood the final 3 innings. Hands on knees for each pitch. Once you start consciously doing something, you have to keep doing it. Crazy, I know.
You can't take any credit for the achievement. But, as everyone knows from 2002, you get to take credit for the potential jinx.
this was a team effort perfect game....an att game
ReplyDeletethe same angels that kept that ball in the yard at the ws were back tonite
It was one of those games where everything seemed to be going right for the Giants. Cain being as dominant as ever, offense was putting up a show with three home runs considering the Giants is not a home run hitting team nor is AT&T Park a home run hitting paradise, Melky's catch at the wall on the fly ball that seemed to have been a home run although the ball seemed to die on its way down, and Blanco's spectacular catch in the gap.
ReplyDeleteWhat a game!! And ditto on that feeling that this is a special team. With Pablo back, the lineup is lengthened to look something like this:
Blanco
Theriot
Cabrera
Posey
Pagan (Sandoval)
Sandoval (Pagan)
Belt
Crawford/Arias
Lot of speed and gap-to-gap hitting here. You don't always need to win with the home run, but as long as you are getting men on base and the guy afer you can drive you home with a base hit, sacrifice fly, or a hit into the outfield gaps, you can still generate enough runs. And with our pitching, I think this can be sustainable. Now we need Timmy to get back on track.
Go Giants!!
Yep, this team is jellin'.
DeleteYep, the big lead was a sweet factor. Too easy to justify trying a bunt for a hit in the 8th with no one out and a 1-0 game.
DeleteBaseball writes it's own poetry...
ReplyDeleteCain who has endured so much Giants torture that his name has become a verb synonymous for lack of run support, gets his perfect game. Run support be damned. FIP be damned. Blanco be praised.
After almost 50 years of watching Giants baseball to get home and turn on the radio and hear the final out, Wow! If this is the end times, I'm going out with the rapture of a Matt Cain perfect game.
Matt Cain.
It really does write it's own poetry... First in franchise history, and only the 22nd time its ever happened. And Cain, being a great guy, is out taking pictures with the grounds crew an hour afterwards. Love that as well.
DeleteAbsolutely phenomenal note there, Shank, about the pics with the ground grew. Seriously sublime night.
DeleteI know you internet savvy folks can find it yourselves... but here is all 27 outs: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=22272193&c_id=mlb
ReplyDeleteAny of you on Twitter, can you fill me in on Dave Cameron's twitter comments? Someone commenting on Fangraphs said he was much more defensive on Twitter than in the article he posted.
ReplyDeletedont follow him, but ill check
Deletei do follow olbermann...and he is a real piece of work...goes out of his way to demean any accomplishment by a giant
btw...here is the real reason for the perfecto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8wNa_c48xk
https://twitter.com/#!/DCameronFG
DeleteLooks like Jon Heyman and Cameron got into a lil discussion, not much to it I don't think.
If you're gonna push buttons Heyman, the stat to use is xFip. Maybe one of your agent buddies could clue you into that one.
heyman lost all cred when he wrote that stewart was picked up on waivers by the yanks
DeleteBacci,
DeleteI thought THIS might be the real reason for the perfecto: www.knoxnews.com/photos/2012/jun/14/228911
Here's another thought that popped into my head this morning: I already get goose bumps when they play that ad on TV where the Voice of God intones, "...you best believe Matt Cain will stand up for you!" I'm tellin' ya, I might just lose it completely and turn into a blubber puddle of tears the next time that ad comes on.
ReplyDeleteYeah Doc, they ran that one towards the end of the game. 7th or 8th inning. And I was thinking, "Did they swap that one in because of what's going on?"
DeleteThis is interesting
ReplyDeleteIn Kroner's Sfgate game story, he wrote that Cain thanked the offense for scoring early, alllowing him to relax. Kroner didn't put that in quote. So I can't be sure what Cain said exactly or if Kroner inferred that. If Cain did say that, one wonders how much greater this pitching staff can be.
Other day I was looking at Giant team runs scored by year:
Delete2000 = 925 runs scored
2011 = 570 runs scored
Wow.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8048897/the-age-pitcher-how-got-here-mlb
ReplyDeletejayson stark provides an excellent analysis on the new age of the pitcher