"You need more than a treadmill and a heart monitor to administer a stress test to Matt Cain. The Giants right-hander and Game 2 starter was his unflappable self in the interview room Wednesday.

He was asked: The night before you start a World Series game, how do you sleep?

"Close your eyes," said Cain, drawing laughs.

Cain's stuff has been like a warm glass of milk in two postseason starts, lulling hitters to sleep while holding the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies without an earned run.

Although just 26, he's the longest-tenured Giant, and he serves as the clubhouse union representative. He also is getting the recognition and rewards that eluded him during all those frustrating nights when the Giants failed to score for him amid losing seasons.

He insists he never had a "grass is greener" moment.

"No, we've always felt like we had a good group of guys ever since I've been here," said Cain, who signed an extension in spring training that wraps him up through 2012. "We've gone through our good spurts and our bad spurts. But this year, we just popped right back out of it, whereas in years past, we might have sat in those ruts for a little bit longer. I think that's what has made this year special."

And what about the pundits who handed this series to the Rangers before it began? Cain had a simple answer for that, too."