"I wouldn't worry too much about Matt Cain today. He will be the Giants' starting pitcher in Game 3 against the Philadelphia Phillies, traditionally a crucial swing moment in a best-of-seven series.

Cain will handle the pressure just fine. It must be in his genes. In 1994 when Cain was 10 years old, a tornado ripped up his Tennessee hometown one night. The storm killed three people and knocked down a wall at the local high school. The tornado later touched down just yards from the Cain household, peeling the roof off the barn on their 50-acre spread.

I figured that Cain had to have some vivid childhood memory of that evening. So I asked him what he recalled most.

"I slept through most of it," Cain said.

See? When all is madness about him, the man remains even keel. Always has. Probably always will. Makes him perfect for today.

It's going to be goofy today at AT&T Park. We all know that. Giants fans, upon seeing how Philadelphia's paying customers behaved toward Tim Lincecum and Pat Burrell at Citizens Bank Park, surely will have some special treatment planned for the Phillies. The biggest myth about Bay Area fans is that they are a sophisticated bunch. Not at times like these.

It will take a calm and measured person to take the mound and throw strikes today. Hello, Matt Cain.

The Giants teed this one up for him. Manager Bruce Bochy shifted Cain from his regular No. 2 spot in the rotation so that he could pitch today at AT&T Park.

Bochy said he did this because he didn't want to start two right-handers in the first two games of the series against the Phillies, who have a lineup anchored by big left-handed bats. And so Bochy showed them right-handed Tim Lincecum in Game 1 (a victory), followed by left-handed Jonathan Sanchez in Game 2 (a loss).

"It was done more to break up our rotation a little bit," Bochy reiterated Monday."