Matt Cain was on the hill tonight for the Giants against the Diamondbacks for the second game of this four game opening series in Arizona. Cain struggled last year, having very uncharacteristic numbers by his standards and was unable to really settle into a groove like he was in 2012. He finished with a record of 8-10 with a 4.00 ERA in 184.1 innings pitched. The once named "horse" of the staff is looking to turn it around this year and go back to being the dominant reliable guy that Giants have come to love.
Giants gave Cain an early boost in the first inning thanks to a massive homer by Brandon Belt his second in as many games that capped off a 4 run first. Cain's struggles continued and he was unable to find any command of his off-speed pitches, his slider was flat a easily seen by the D-backs hitters and his curve had no bite to it that became problematic. He relies heavily on all of his pitches to help with his pin point control and control the bats of the opponents, but all he could throw was his fastball and changeup. He got out of the first with a clutch double play off the bat of Trumbo. The second and third innings were more of the same, no control of his put away pitches and had to rely on his fastball to get ahead and his changeup to put away. Meanwhile Wade Miley for the D-backs settled into a groove, stealing strikes early with his curve and striking the Giants out with his fastball, he didn't not give up another baserunner until a two out walk by Buster Posey in the 6th. Bottom of the 4th got interesting for the Giants when Matt Cain appeared to pick off AJ Pollock off first base but was called safe, Bochy challenged the play and the call stood despite the evidence shown that he was clearly out. Two batters later a passed ball by Posey, which he then quickly flipped to Cain covering home got the tag on Pollock attempting to score but the umpire called him safe and because the Giants lost the challenge on the pick play, there was nothing the Giants could do. Gutierrez came in to relieve Cain and was unable to keep his off-speed pitches down and that led to the D-backs taking the lead. The second turning point of the game was in the top of the 7th, the Giants had second and third with only one out, and Juan Perez struck out and was unable to put the ball in play. The D-backs bullpen shut it down with pin point fastball location throughout the last few innings that kept the Giants at bay.
Arizona 5, San Francisco 4
W- Miley (1-1)
L- Gutierrez (0-1)
S- Reed (1)
Tuesday April 1, 2014
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