News
Cain dominates Rockies for first victory
Uribe, Molina, Huff homer to boost Giants right-hander
By Willie Bans / Special to MLB.com
05/01/10 8:28 PM EST
SAN FRANCISCO -- To Giants starter Matt Cain, all the subpar results in April seemed like a fog, and as he reflected on his gem Saturday, the couple of nicks on it seemed even more blurry to the Giants.For Cain, winless in four April starts, his eight-inning shutout in the Giants' 6-1 win over the Colorado Rockies at a sun-splashed AT&T Park contained 65 pitches in the first three frames; they didn't feel like 65, he said.
And his outing included only one hit, a leadoff double in the fourth by Troy Tulowitzki; San Francisco first baseman Aubrey Huff couldn't even recall it.
But Cain's first win is memorable, because he hadn't fanned eight this season like he did Saturday, hadn't looked so dominant like he did toward the end, when his pitch count slowed and he retired his last 15.
"Guys got runs early," said Cain (1-1). "And that was huge."
Backed by a three-run home run by Juan Uribe in the second inning and solo shots by Bengie Molina and Aubrey Huff, Cain looked more like the pitcher who last year made the National League All-Star team. He lowered his ERA from 3.80 to 2.84.
"I threw strike one earlier," Cain said of Saturday's outing. "I located the ball well. ... I didn't do anything different in the last five [innings] that I didn't do in the first three."
Added manager Bruce Bochy: "We've had a tough time getting him some runs or the big hit, and today we did. What a job he did. He threw a lot of pitches early but settled down."
San Francisco has won six of its last eight games and will go for the three-game series sweep against the Rockies (11-13) on Sunday.
The Giants (14-9) went ahead in the second after Uribe's three-run homer over the left-center wall, his third homer of the season that pushed his team-leading RBI total to 16. San Francisco loaded the bases, partly because of Eric Young Jr.'s fielding error of a underhand throw from catcher Miguel Olivo that allowed Cain to reach on an attempted sacrifice bunt, and John Bowker's sacrifice fly made it 4-0.
Molina, the Giants' cleanup hitter since Friday, hit a leadoff home run in the third for a 5-0 lead, his second homer so far. Huff, the original cleanup hitter, followed his first multi-RBI game Friday with a solo homer into the bay in the eighth, the Giants' 51st "Splash Hit" in AT&T Park history and first by the team since Pablo Sandoval on Aug. 29 last year against the Rockies.
"I wasn't really trying to hit a home run," Huff said. "I just hit it hard. Sometimes when you don't try, it actually goes."
The Giants have two important players inactive because of groin strains -- shortstop Edgar Renteria and closer Brian Wilson -- and on Saturday, Renteria's replacement at the No. 2 batting spot, John Bowker, did fine (1-for-2, one RBI, one walk), and Wilson was not needed (righty Guillermo Mota tossed the ninth and allowed the lone run).
The Giants chased Colorado starter Esmil Rogers (0-1) fairly quickly, as the 24-year-old righty who was starting in place of the injured Jorge De La Rosa lasted just four innings, giving up five hits, five runs -- four earned -- and four walks. Rogers hadn't started since Sept. 12 last year.
On Saturday, Bochy announced that the team's fifth starter, Todd Wellemeyer, would be skipped in the rotation and ace Tim Lincecum would begin a three-game road series against the Florida Marlins. Lincecum, Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez had already been fantastic. Add Cain on a day like this, and the Giants have four superior starters.
"It seems like they fed off each other consistently," Bochy said. "It's a tremendous job of holding the other team down and giving us a chance. We depend on our pitching."
For Cain, this was step one of being even more dependable.
Willie Bans is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
