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Matt Cain News & Rumors

Future is now for SF Giants aces Lincecum, Cain
February 4
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"Since Tim Lincecum signed his two-year, $40.5 million contract, a lot of folks have taken the liberty of speaking for him. Lincecum wants to be a Yankee, they say. He wants to sell himself to the highest bidder the minute he is free and collect $200 million. He's giving management two years to field a better offense, or he's gone. Lincecum spoke for himself Friday and said none of that played into the brevity of his new deal. Echoing his agent, Lincecum said that two years was the "common ground" that the two sides found to avoid an arbitration hearing that Lincecum did not want, and that anybody who reads more into it is reaching. "Just because I signed a two-year deal doesn't mean it"
SF offers Tim $100M-plus but more able on Cain
January 24
CBSSports.com
 
"The Giants are talking to franchise pitchers Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain about multiyear deals, but while there are early indications they'll have a decent or better chance to lock up Cain into his free-agent years, the team seems to be focusing on deals of two years or one with Lincecum after he rebuffed an offer of at least $100 million for five years. Giants people are saying only that talks are "ongoing'' with Cain, but there is said to be a fair amount of optimism they can keep Cain on a longterm deal for under $20 million a year. Cain already took one long team-friendly deal, but Lincecum, who has so far gone year to year, seems more likely to wind up with a two-year deal now rather"
All quiet on Tim Lincecum contract front, but Giants say talks with Matt Cain have been "healthy, ongoing"
January 12
San Jose Mercury News
 
"The Giants have Ryan Vogelsong under contract, but the heaviest case in their arbitration file is yet to be resolved. They still must come to terms with Tim Lincecum. The Giants and Lincecum's representatives have not spoken in over a month. Rick Thurman, the agent for the two-time Cy Young award winner, told me today via text message that he is "just preparing his arbitration brief" and has had no dialogue with the club since the winter meetings in early December. That's not necessarily a bad sign. In fact, the Giants and Lincecum will make two very big statements one week from today. That's when the two sides will exchange arbitration figures. After that, the strategy and expectations"
Matt Cain's milestones can't prevent San Francisco Giants' loss to San Diego Padres
September 8
San Jose Mercury News
 
"Matt Cain reached a couple of impressive plateaus Wednesday afternoon. He became the seventh pitcher in the Giants' San Francisco era to make 200 career starts for the club. He joined another short and distinct list by logging 200 innings for the fifth consecutive season. Still just 26 years old, he already ranks as one of the most durable pitching presences in franchise history. Yet Cain couldn't enjoy the view. His career record fell to 68-72 and he is just 11-10 this season after allowing a tiebreaking, sixth-inning single in the Giants' 3-1 loss to the San Diego Padres."
Giants' Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain victims of poor support
August 23
San Jose Mercury News
 
"It's every Giants fan's worst nightmare. Tim Lincecum in Yankee pinstripes. Matt Cain fitting on a Boston Red Sox cap. The Giants' co-aces, so adored here in the Bay Area, bolting for greener, more potent pastures where run support arrives by the bushel. Cain and Lincecum have endured systemically poor support over their careers. No major league pitcher has worked with fewer runs per start than Cain since his first full season in 2006. And Lincecum? The Giants haven't scored a run in 10 of his 26 outings this season -- including a 1-0 loss at Atlanta last Thursday. "Shoot, Timmy could be 20-3 with the Yankees," Giants first baseman Aubrey Huff said earlier this month. "You can only imagine"
SF Giants' Matt Cain snaps 3-game losing streak
August 18
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"The sacrifice fly: a pitcher's new best friend. The way the Giants have operated lately, with losses and injuries piling up beyond anyone's gloomiest expectations, they'll take any friend they can get. Behind Matt Cain's eight stifling innings and the offense's little-ball approach that featured a franchise-record-tying four sacrifice flies, the Giants beat the Braves 7-5. Their first win over Atlanta in 2011, however, nearly went to waste in the ninth. Atlanta scored four times in the inning off lefties Dan Runzler and Jeremy Affeldt and had Brian McCann as the tying run at the plate with two outs and a runner aboard. "If he hits that ball out, that probably would've killed us," Aubrey"
Giants beat Phillies 2-1 behind Matt Cain
July 28
San Jose Mercury News
 
"Matt Cain had two histories against the Phillies. One included a winless mark and a 6.23 ERA in five career regular-season starts. The other was his seven innings of dominance against them in Game 3 of the NLCS last season. Cain wasn't dominant Wednesday night, but he was just as unyielding as last October. He allowed only an unearned run while pitching into the eighth inning, and Brian Wilson retired Ryan Howard again on the way to saving the Giants' 2-1 victory at Citizens Bank Park. "It was kind of a must-win," Wilson said. "They're a playoff-caliber team. We're defending world champions. So it's rightful to say it was a playoff atmosphere. If we continue to play this caliber of"
Starter Matt Cain superb but blames self in loss
June 20
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"Matt Cain allowed one hit through five innings and surrendered three over seven innings. That is not just a quality start but a fantastic one, and yet in analyzing the Giants' 2-1 loss he blamed himself for the Jemile Weeks double and Coco Crisp single in the sixth that produced Oakland's only run against him. "I'll think back on the pitch to Weeks," he said. "It came back over the plate more than I wanted to. The pitch to Crisp, I'll look back on that. I wanted more of a borderline pitch to get a walk or a strikeout, but it came back over the plate." Cain's performance should not have surprised anyone. He has been a good stopper this season, with a 2-0 record and 2.29 ERA in five starts"
Madison Bumgarner joins SF Giants' Cain fraternity
June 10
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"There is an unhappy rite of passage for Giants starters. At some point, they all pitch Cy Young-caliber baseball yet rack up losses for lack of support. A verb was created to describe the phenomenon. It's called "getting Cained." The Giants occasionally score for Matt Cain now, but Bumgarner has been Cained so often his back must look like the canals of Mars. It happened again Thursday night, when Bumgarner was at his stingiest, yet found himself on the blunt end of a 3-0 loss. Bumgarner allowed one run in seven innings, walked none and struck out seven - and fell to 2-8. Here is Bumgarner's Caining almanac: Five of his eight losses have come by scores of 3-1, 2-0, 2-0, 2-1 and now 3-0. In"
Cain stifles Nats, drives in run in Giants' win
June 9
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"The Giants in the post-Buster Posey portion of 2011 need to do more to compensate for the loss of their catcher and cleanup hitter, and Wednesday's 3-1 victory over the Nationals was a perfect illustration. It could mean a starting pitcher throwing a complete game and socking his first extra-base hit in 11 months. Take a bow, Matt Cain. It could mean a shortstop out of nowhere emerging to make key plays and bang out key hits. Hello, Brandon Crawford. And it could mean a former backup catcher figuring out how to hit. There you are, Eli Whiteside. The Giants had all of that to take the deciding game of a three-game series against the Nats. Cain threw a five-hitter and struck out 11."
Giants win behind Cain's pitching
May 13
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"You know things are going well - though not exactly by design - for the Giants when the talk after their 3-2 win over Arizona on Thursday centered not on the winning pitcher's outing but on his bunt, and the man who recorded the final three outs had to think for a moment or three before he could remember the last time he picked up a save. Matt Cain started the first and final games of the Giants' perfect six-game homestand. On Thursday, Cain (3-2) carried a shutout into the eighth before leaving with two on and two outs. The fact he took the mound in the eighth had to give the Giants and their fans a boost. In the seventh, Cain squared around to bunt, only to have Daniel Hudson's fastball"
Matt Cain helps San Francisco Giants complete sweep of Arizona Diamondbacks
May 13
Arizona Republic
 
"The Diamondbacks had to have left AT&T Park with a feeling of offensive inadequacy, having scored a total of five runs while being swept by the San Francisco Giants in three games. But it's not as if it's an unfamiliar feeling. After falling 3-2 to Matt Cain and the Giants on Thursday afternoon, the Diamondbacks are 4-17 since the start of 2009 in this ballpark, a stretch in which they have hit just .208 and averaged just over three runs per game. "Good pitching, a huge ballpark, low-scoring games - you know what you're getting into here," Diamondbacks second baseman Kelly Johnson said. But that didn't make the series - or, for that matter, the road trip that began in San Diego last"
After A's sign Trevor Cahill, are big paydays on deck soon for the Giants' Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain?
April 12
Oakland Tribune
 columnist Cam Inman
"The A's Trevor Cahill just became a richer pitcher than the Giants' Tim Lincecum. Baseball's economic world is a surreal one, indeed. Cahill's five-year, $30.5 million deal Monday is a win-win for him and the A's. It is also a reminder that the Giants haven't locked up their young studs to multiyear rewards. "Generally we prefer lengths of contracts that match up with performance profiles," Giants managing partner Bill Neukom said before Monday night's series opener with the Los Angeles Dodgers. "There is no strict rule on long-term contracts. It depends on the player and circumstances." Lincecum, fellow pitcher Matt Cain and catcher Buster Posey certainly played integral roles in last"
Pure Cain sugar gives Giants a lift
April 3
Yahoo! Sports
 columnist Tim Brown
"It was mid-afternoon on a Saturday that couldn't decide between sunny or dreary, in a town whose summer baseball promises the same ambiguity, when the bleacher denizens of Dodger Stadium attempted to initiate the wave. Five innings and most of a sixth had come and gone, and so had most of their hitters, as had any chance of sending the hated San Francisco Giants to a three-straight-loss, opening-weekend gloom. So, they turned to one final bit of self-amusement, that burned-out vestige of three decades (at least) past, because it was either that or picking out a vulnerable Giants fan to chase into the parking lot. And that already had been done. Following two Los Angeles Dodgers victories"
Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants shut out Los Angeles Dodgers 10-0
April 3
San Jose Mercury News
 
"Matt Cain had a golden arm and Bruce Bochy had a golden gut during the Giants' postseason march to the World Series title last autumn. Those two body parts were most valuable again as the Giants captured their first victory of 2011. Cain pitched six shutout innings and Bochy's managerial hunch ?paid off, as surprising leadoff man Miguel Tejada -- batting atop the order for the first time in more than 11 years -- sparked a blaze in a 10-0 victory Saturday at Dodger Stadium. "You've got your pants hiked up today, huh, Mike?" Aubrey Huff said during batting practice to Tejada, who drove in the Giants' first two runs and scored two. "He said, 'Yeah, I'm leading off. I've got to be fast today.'"
News not good for Giants' Ross, Wilson, Cain
March 24
MLB.com
 
"A disaster? No. A downer? Yes. Wednesday was the Giants' most wretched day of Spring Training, and the malaise only partly involved the 8-0 exhibition defeat the Los Angeles Angels pinned on them. Right fielder Cody Ross left the game in the first inning with a strained right calf muscle. His immediate playing status remained uncertain, pending the results of an MRI."
Matt Cain strong in return for Giants
March 15
San Jose Mercury News
 
"Giants right-hander Matt Cain not only looked healthy Monday in his first outing since Feb. 27 but also looked like a guy who hadn't missed any time at all. Cain, who developed elbow inflammation after his first outing of the spring, pitched three shutout innings and went to just one three-ball count while facing 12 hitters and throwing 43 pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers. "It looked like the normal Cainer," said catcher Buster Posey. Even when he ran the count to 3-0 on his final batter, slugger Ryan Braun, Cain turned it into a positive. He threw three straight strikes, including a nasty curveball on the final pitch that Braun swung through. "That's one of those things you like in"
Cain returns strongly after 2 weeks on shelf
March 15
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"In the third inning Monday, Matt Cain fell behind Milwaukee's Ryan Braun with two runners aboard and two out, then pushed the count to 3-2 before snapping a curve for a strikeout. Good way to end an outing for someone who missed two weeks with elbow inflammation. "It's nice to go through that situation now," said Cain, who declared he still has plenty of time to prepare to pitch in the season-opening series at Dodger Stadium. "I'm not worried about that. I did a lot of (shoulder) work even when I wasn't throwing. We still kept the arm strength there, so that's not a problem." Cain yielded three singles and walked no one in three scoreless innings, and 29 of his 43 pitches were strikes. "It"
Cain to miss today's start with elbow inflammation
March 3
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"Matt Cain has been scratched from today's scheduled start against Colorado with inflammation in his throwing elbow. Manager Bruce Bochy said the injury is not serious, but the staff surely will be cautious with such a precious arm. "Obviously we hope it doesn't have to take missing more than one start," Bochy said. "We'll see where he's at in a couple of days. Now's the time to back him off and calm this down a little bit." Bochy said Cain felt soreness after his first Cactus League start Sunday and had an MRI exam, which revealed the inflammation. He pitched two shutout innings in that game. Bochy assures Zito: Bochy conveyed the same message during a private meeting with Barry Zito and"
Giants' Matt Cain to miss spring start
March 3
Oakland Tribune
 
"Stalwart right-hander Matt Cain will miss Thursday's exhibition start because of right elbow inflammation, the first real scare for the Giants in what has been a carefree camp this spring. Cain had an MRI exam after feeling soreness stemming from his last outing Sunday, in which he threw two scoreless innings. Manager Bruce Bochy said he hoped Cain would miss just one start, but backup catcher Eli Whiteside dealt with a similar issue in the opening days of camp and still hasn't played an inning behind the plate. "He just felt it a little bit, that's all," Bochy said. "Now's the time to back it off and let it calm down." Cain, 26, was thought to be the most durable member of the Giants'"
Giants, primed for reality TV, take victory lap with World Series trophy
January 15
Oakland Tribune
 columnist Cam Inman
"Coming soon to a Giants' ballpark near you are 1) San Francisco's first World Series trophy for display, and 2) Showtime television cameras for a reality series. Pause here for dramatic effect. (Sigh.) The Giants are creating a mass-exposure phenomenon. Yes, they should proudly show off their long-sought prize, taking it on a victory tour throughout the West Coast, as well as to their native soil in New York. Such exhibitionism is encouraged, as opposed to the kind that may emerge in Showtime's just-announced series on the 2011 Giants. A trophy is real, has staying power and creates goodwill. A TV show, not so much. Make the trophy visible, not the clubhouse. Who knows what will transpire"
Matt Cain is rock steady amid anarchy
October 29
San Francisco Chronicle
 columnist Bruce Jenkins
"Even in a swirl of anarchy, some sanity must rule. Once the fake beards and red thongs have been dispensed, someone needs to be Dad. The Giants are going to Texas with a 2-0 lead in the World Series because they have that symbol of authority, and Matt Cain is a secret no more. Until Thursday night, he'd been sneaking up on the American public, a cherished but largely unheralded member of the Giants' starting rotation. Let there be heralding. As much as Cain enjoys his behind-the-scenes serenity, there's no hiding behind "unbeatable." That's how Cain must now be viewed, for the postseason is what people remember. Over the course of three starts - against Atlanta, then Philadelphia, and now"
Matt Cain not losing sleep over World Series start
October 28
San Jose Mercury News
 
"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"
Tim Lincecum will start Game 1, Matt Cain Game 2 for Giants
October 26
San Jose Mercury News
 
"The Giants will match aces with the Texas Rangers, sending Tim Lincecum against stern left-hander Cliff Lee in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday at AT&T Park. Giants manager Bruce Bochy will start right-hander Matt Cain in Game 2 on Thursday and use left-hander Jonathan Sanchez when the series shifts to Texas on Saturday for Game 3, flip-flopping the order of his Nos. 2-3 starters from the National League championship series. It only gets tougher for the Giants' stout staff, which shut down the potent Philadelphia Phillies to win the pennant. But the Phillies entered the NLCS with cold bats, and many framed their loss as more a failure on their part than an achievement for the"
Matt Cain pitches S.F. Giants into NLCS lead
October 20
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"How nice of little Cody to let all his friends play, too. The Giants went up two games to one in the National League Championship Series on Tuesday because of a heaping helping of Matt Cain backed by a bunch of hitters who finally got to feel those back slaps that Cody Ross had been monopolizing. Ross extracted his usual pound of flesh, driving in the first run in the 3-0 victory against Philadelphia at AT&T Park, but he had help. Aubrey Huff, Freddy Sanchez and backbenchers Edgar Renteria and Aaron Rowand all delivered big hits against left-hander Cole Hamels in a swing victory, which forces the Phillies to win at least once over the next two games just to get the series back home. Much"
Matt Cain becomes a big-game pitcher
October 20
San Francisco Chronicle
 columnist Gwen Knapp
"Matt Cain needed this win. His teammates won't say it. His manager won't say it. He won't, and shouldn't, admit it. But his 3-0 victory over the Phillies on Tuesday in Game 3 of the NLCS validated him as a force in the game, revealing the pitcher he was always meant to be. He threw seven shutout innings against one of the most daunting lineups in baseball, delivering a performance that would guarantee a win for virtually any pitcher, except Matt Cain. Nobody looks as great on the mound and as mediocre on paper as the Giants' big right-hander. But Tuesday's win began dismantling the funhouse mirror that routinely distorts his accomplishments. Consider his results over the last two starts,"
Matt Cain and Cole Hamels are plenty rested for Game 3
October 19
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"Matt Cain has had plenty of time to rest, to watch, to think. He has had 10 days off since his last start. "I'm sure he'll be the same old Matt," catcher Buster Posey said. "Aggressive in the zone, filling it up, letting the defense work." Cain, the Giants' Game 3 starter, said he has been preparing as usual despite the long layoff, and his plan hasn't changed, either, though the Phillies switched their approach against Game 2 starter Jonathan Sanchez, showing more patience. "If you're attacking the strike zone, you're kind of putting the pressure on them," Cain said. Giants manager Bruce Bochy noted that Phillies starter Cole Hamels also will be going on long rest (eight days), and both"
Matt Cain is the right man for this job
October 19
San Jose Mercury News
 columnist Mark Purdy
"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"
Cain dominates Rockies
September 27
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"Padres closer Heath Bell dropped the gauntlet on Twitter the other day when he said, "We want SF in the end. We win and they win then we see who's on top." Looks like that's the way it's going to be. The Giants leap- frogged San Diego again for first place in the National League West on Sunday by beating Colorado 4-2. For the umpteenth time in a season that now includes 88 wins, matching last year's total, the Giants quickly forgot a harrowing loss and stormed back with a win. The Giants' final road game of 2010 was a Matt Cain special. He carried a perfect game into the fifth inning and stood five outs from a no-hitter when Jay Payton legged out an infield hit to short on a ball that Juan"
Matt Cain loses no-hit bid in 8th, still beats Rockies
September 27
San Jose Mercury News
 
"Matt Cain the warhorse. Matt Cain the bulldog. See something else in the menagerie you like? Pick that, too. Cain has the stuff, the temperament and the stone-cold eyes of a pitcher who could keep sawing off bats deep into October. And in one of the biggest turning-point games of the Giants' season, Cain pitched like an absolute beast to get them one step closer to the playoffs. The laconic kid from Tennessee got within five outs of the second no-hitter in Coors Field history but settled for a complete game while hammering a pine box for the dangerous Colorado Rockies in a 4-2 victory Sunday afternoon. The Giants enter the final week of the season as a first-place team once again, a"
Matt Cain keeps Giants in game as rally beats Diamondbacks
August 30
San Jose Mercury News
 
"The Giants lost the lead in the seventh inning, reclaimed it, tacked on a run in the eighth, tapped Brian Wilson for a five-out save and kept 38,735 fans chewing their fingernails to the very last out of a 9-7 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday afternoon. But the most important development came much, much earlier. Long before the Giants scrapped late to avoid a sweep, Matt Cain ensured they would have a fighting chance. Cain defused what looked to be another incendiary first inning, breaking the rotation's dispiriting pattern and possibly helping the entire team turn a rather gruesome page. The Diamondbacks had two runners in scoring position before Cain recorded an out, but"
No decision no problem for Cain if Giants win
August 13
San Jose Mercury News
 
"No decision no problem for Cain if Giants win The Giants' vaunted starting pitchers haven't been credited with a win in nine games, and Thursday's starter couldn't care less. Matt Cain left with a four-run lead in the sixth inning of an 8-7 win over the Chicago Cubs, but said "it doesn't matter" how the Giants win, and he's happy that "all the guys are getting the job done right now." The right-hander did his part, overcoming a rough first inning and giving the offense a chance to get in gear. Cain threw 31 pitches in the first inning, including a 10-pitch strikeout of Kosuke Fukudome. He gave up two runs on Xavier Nady's double to left-center field, but exited the lengthy frame feeling"
Cain beats Dodgers for 1st time - Giants sweep
August 2
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"July turned to August, and Matt Cain turned into a Dodger beater. Finally. For the first time in 15 career starts against the boys in blue, Cain knows what it's like to be a winner. The Giants, who welcomed Javier Lopez to the bullpen while welcoming back Brian Wilson, beat the Dodgers 2-0 on Sunday night in front of a vigorous, sold-out crowd and a national television audience, sweeping their rivals at home for the first time since 2004. "It was pretty large tonight," Wilson said. "ESPN game. Packed house. We win the first two games of a three-game set against the Dodgers. Cain's going in his 15th start against them. Kind of an epic story, if you ask me." Epic is Edgar Renteria's middle"
Matt Cain masters Arizona again
July 23
San Jose Mercury News
 
"Giants manager Bruce Bochy is a lot more shrewd than the ol' galoot lets on, as the Los Angeles Dodgers discovered while rifling through the rule book a couple of nights ago. So do you think Bochy can find some creative means to pit Matt Cain against the Arizona Diamondbacks, oh, 10 more times this season? It was a dream matchup again in the Giants' 3-0 victory Thursday night at Chase Field. Cain (8-8) continued his utter dominance over the NL West's worst team, limiting the Diamondbacks to three hits over eight innings. He also continued the Giants' run of terrific starting pitching out of the All-Star break. And while it's a little early to be anything beyond symbolic, the Giants moved"
Giants lose to Dodgers 4-2
June 30
San Jose Mercury News
 
"Matt Cain didn't say a word, but his silence spoke volumes. Cain is as baffled as anyone by his continued struggles against the rival Dodgers, who beat the Giants 4-2 Tuesday at AT&T Park. Knocked out after five innings, Cain just stared into space when asked about his 0-8 record in 14 career starts against Los Angeles. Considering what the right-hander has accomplished in his six big league seasons, the record is unexplainable. But then, so is much of what the Giants have done on this homestand. With their All-Star pitchers uncharacteristically scuffling and a lineup full of plodders without much pop, the Giants don't have much margin for error. They need to do the little things to win,"
No end to Cain's blues
June 30
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"Some things changed Tuesday night in the ballpark at China Basin - Pablo Sandoval batted third for the first time in nearly three weeks, Aubrey Huff slid back to the cleanup spot, and Juan Uribe dropped to sixth. Several other notable things didn't change at all - Sandoval made another blunder on the bases, the Giants grounded into two more double plays, and Matt Cain trudged away winless against the Dodgers. The boys in blue snatched a 4-2 victory and sent the Giants spinning deeper into their funk. They have lost eight of 11 games to tumble into fourth place in the National League West, suddenly peering skyward at the Rockies and Dodgers in addition to the division-leading Padres."
Giants' Matt Cain can't get it done against Dodgers
June 30
Los Angeles Times
 
"As far as mysteries in baseball go, this one ranks up there with how Bob Uecker was able to hit Sandy Koufax. Why can't Matt Cain beat the Dodgers? Cain was an All-Star last year. He woke up Tuesday with an earned-run average of 2.72. But as the pitcher of record in the Giants' 4-2 loss at AT&T Park, his career record against the Dodgers fell to 0-8. The Dodgers made Cain throw 105 pitches in only five innings, pounding him for four runs and seven hits. They drew three walks. James Loney was the first to get to Cain, hitting a two-out single in the first inning to drive in Andre Ethier and put the Dodgers ahead, 1-0. ( Manny Ramirez was injured on the play, as he overran second base and"
Astros make short work of Giants' Matt Cain
June 25
San Jose Mercury News
 
"Uncharacteristically, Matt Cain dug a seven-run hole for his teammates in the first three innings Thursday. The hapless Houston Astros spent the rest of the afternoon lowering ropes and inviting the Giants to escape. But the Giants mostly stayed grounded in a 7-5 loss at Minute Maid Park while completing a disappointing trip. They certainly let an opportunity slip in Houston, losing the last two games even though the Astros committed three errors in each contest. The Giants bounced into four rally-stifling double plays, giving them a whopping 78 this season. They're on pace for 177, which would break the major league record of 174 set by the 1990 Boston Red Sox. That is not the distinction"
Familiar refrain: no runs for Cain
June 20
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"With far more practice than he would prefer, Matt Cain has become an expert at standing tall with a stoic gaze and explaining how he could pitch like a Cy Young candidate yet still lose. He really could teach a seminar. That had not happened for a while. Cain had a four-game winning streak until Saturday's 3-0 loss to the Blue Jays, which had a familiar ring. Like Barry Zito the night before, Cain pitched like a winner. In fact, Cain was better. He had a shutout until he walked Fred Lewis on four pitches with two outs in the eighth ahead of Aaron Hill, who dragged a .191 average to the plate and homered to break a scoreless tie. Toronto added a run, charged to Cain but scoring on a"
Blue Jays beat Cain, Giants with eighth-inning homer
June 20
San Jose Mercury News
 
"The cast might feature a few fresh faces, but the script was all too familiar for Matt Cain and the Giants. With the momentary updraft of Buster Posey's promotion and Pat Burrell's arrival no longer lifting their wings, the Giants failed to support Cain and left him prone to lose on one mistake. Despite his impeccable run, Cain made two of them as the Blue Jays broke a scoreless tie in the eighth inning. First, he issued a two-out walk to Fred Lewis. Then he threw a 1-1 fastball into Aaron Hill's happy zone for a two-run home run as the Giants lost 3-0 Saturday at Rogers Centre. It was the second consecutive game in which a Giants starter was beaten on a home run in the eighth inning;"
Cain slings shutout at NL's top offense
June 9
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"Is anyone besides Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez pitching better in the National League right now than Matt Cain? Sorry, no, you do not get to say Stephen Strasburg after one start, spectacular though it was. Great American Ball Park opened in 2003. The Reds have played 600 regular-season games here. Before Tuesday night's 3-0 Giants victory, only four visiting pitchers had thrown shutouts. Cain made it five with a seven-hitter for his third complete game in four starts. His ERA over the last month has to be measured with an electron microscope. He has allowed one earned run over his last 34 innings (0.26) and three earned runs over his last 40 (0.68). "He's a horse," catcher Bengie Molina"
Cain leads San Francisco Giants past Cincinnati Reds
June 9
San Jose Mercury News
 
"Somebody alert whoever owns the hot-tub time machine. Matt Cain stole the keys and took it back to 1968. The equine-strong right-hander is doing a fair Juan Marichal impression over his past four starts — minus the high leg kick, of course. He dominated again Tuesday night, throwing a seven-hitter and also contributing a run-scoring single as the Giants grabbed a 3-0 victory over the Reds at Great American Ball Park. Cain has thrown complete games in three of his past four starts, going eight strong in the only exception. That's right, you non-math majors: the bullpen has thrown just one inning over Cain's past four assignments. His 116-pitch effort at Great American Ball Park might be the"
Cain throws 7-hitter in 3-0 win against Reds
June 9
Cincinnati Enquirer
 
"For seven innings, the Reds sputtered on offense. But they were secure in the fact that they were one swing away from tying it up. That hope quickly evaporated when bullpen gave it up for the third straight game. Nick Masset allowed a pair of runs in the eighth, virtually sealing a 3-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night before 13,011 at Great American Ball Park. The way right-hander Matt Cain was pitching for the Giants, the Reds didn't have a lot of margin for error. The Reds used four relievers Tuesday night. Three of them allowed two baserunners and only got two outs. The other was Mr. Reliable, Arthur Rhodes, who extended his scoreless-inning streak to 23 1/3 innings."
Matt Cain gets some run support, and San Francisco Giants get win
June 3
San Jose Mercury News
 
"Matt Cain is one of the hottest pitchers in the major leagues, but the Giants also needed a few veterans to snap out of deep freezes Wednesday night to prevent getting swept by the Colorado Rockies. Cain pitched eight more outstanding innings, Aaron Rowand hit a two-run double in the fifth, and Bengie Molina contributed an RBI single in the sixth as the Giants won 4-1 at AT&T Park — their sixth victory to finish a nine-game homestand. It marked just the second time this season that Rowand and Molina, two of the club's core players, knocked in runs in the same game. "We want to help the team, man," said Molina, whose hit snapped an 0-for-17 and accounted for just his second RBI since May 5."
Matt Cain keeps rolling against Rockies
June 3
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"Making the playoffs for the first time since 2003 has to be the Giants' goal this season. In Wednesday night's 4-1 victory over Colorado at China Basin, Matt Cain almost did something no Giants pitcher had accomplished since that division-winning season of '03. Cain fell one inning shy of his third consecutive complete game. The last S.F. pitcher to go the distance in three straight games was Jason Schmidt in June 2003. Nevertheless, Cain deserved top billing Wednesday night. He held the Rockies to four hits. Cain (4-4) walked three (including opposing pitcher Jeff Francis twice) and struck out five. In his previous start, Cain put together a one-hit, nine-strikeout gem against Arizona on"
Complete game, no earned runsand another loss
May 23
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"Matt Cain emerged from the training room, saw a bunch of reporters waiting at his locker, and momentarily walked away before standing up as always to talk. But who could blame him? What else can he say? What else is there to ask? Cain allowed an unearned run in a complete game Saturday and lost 1-0. It was his fourth defeat of the year. In three of those losses, he allowed a combined four earned runs over 19 innings. This was Cain's 146th major-league start and the 83rd in which he allowed two or fewer runs. Remarkably, Cain has more combined losses (14) and no-decisions (29) than wins (40) in those games. "He pitched his heart out," manager Bruce Bochy said. "He did a great job today."
Another hard-luck loss for Giants' Matt Cain
May 23
San Jose Mercury News
 
"Even by Matt Cain's standards, this was a tough one to swallow. Cain, who has crammed a career's worth of hard-luck losses into his six seasons in San Francisco, went the distance Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum but received little help as the Giants fell to the A's 1-0. The loss dropped Cain to 2-4 on the season despite a 2.88 ERA. He allowed the leadoff hitter to reach base five times but induced two double plays and struck out four to limit the damage to one unearned run. "He pitched his heart out," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He had to pitch out of (jams), and he did it. That's why this is another tough one, and we've had some gut-wrenching losses." The past two have been"
Giants' Matt Cain earns elusive win
May 2
San Jose Mercury News
 
"Matt Cain finally jumped aboard the Giants' magnificent starting rotation merry-go-round Saturday, and he did so with a vengeance. Cain, who was the club's only starter without a victory in April, took advantage of an early cushion and allowed only one hit in eight shutout innings as the Giants beat Colorado 6-1 at AT&T Park. Cain (1-1) had not pitched poorly in his first four starts, giving up three earned runs in each of his first two outings and two in each of his next two. But his fifth start was more in line with the kind of performances the Giants had received from Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez throughout much of the first month. Cain retired the final 15 batters he"
Cain won't pitch in Los Angeles
April 13
San Francisco Chronicle
 
"Manager Bruce Bochy said Monday he will maintain a five-man rotation again, despite another Thursday off day, which means Matt Cain will not get a chance for that elusive first career win against the Dodgers this weekend. Fans want to see Tim Lincecum and Cain both face the Dodgers. Bochy takes a longer-term view, wanting to keep his young starters fresh for an entire season. "It's a grind of a season," Bochy said. "Even early if you give them some rest they'll be better off. ... It's vital for our club and our success to keep our staff strong in August and September. That will pay huge dividends." Bochy did say he might have used a starter Sunday had he run through his bullpen. Then he"