Giants' Matt Cain Treats San Francisco to Party Near Bay

In a town that really knows how to party, Giants fans are throwing an after-party by the bay, thrilled by the San Francisco Giants' captivating turnaround. In every sense, the city has been a lively, festive place with Halloween looming ever closer and die-hard fans wearing costumes or rowing into McCovey Cove, the waterway near the gorgeous ballpark at the bay.

Every night has felt like a party in the Bay Area, and it has been fun to watch the World Series generate action-packed drama and a beautiful tale. On another pleasant night, the Giants ignited yet another party and continued their World Series awakening with nearly every swing. It’s no coincidence that the Giants are the best ballclub to return to the Fall Classic, hitting the Texas Rangers, a ballclub that shed the misery and gruesome memories of postseason failures, harder than ever when much is at stake.

The wildest and most raucous fans in the majors waved orange pom-poms in the stands and were even more exhilarated to cheer on a 9-0 shutout over the Rangers that gave the Giants a 2-0 series lead. For once Thursday night, the Giants were taken seriously and capped one of the most lopsided wins in recent World Series history.

What we learned after this game is that Matt Cain is the latest version of Mr. October. His curly hairstyle reminds us of Larry from the Three Stooges, but his untouchable pitches remind us of a Most Valuable Player. For six-plus innings, he looked spectacular and too lethal to outduel with his usual fastball and incredible calmness on the mound. He could easily be named the next World Series MVP courtesy of his superb pitching in the postseason if the Giants win a title.

The Rangers were 0-7 with runners in scoring position against Cain, who made a vivid statement that he is the best pitcher this fall, clearly better than Roy Halladay or Tim Lincecum. As baseball’s next legend ripens before our very eyes, Cain is more than a talented pitcher, but a gifted pitcher within a franchise suddenly relishing a fascinating moment in recent memory.

As for Cain, of course, it was merely another flawless start, and he is still untouchable without allowing an earned run in the postseason. What should be memorable for the average Giants fan is that Cain has an astonishing 0.00 ERA. That is, of course, a rarity in the fall, but not when Cain is capable of throwing his fastballs on both sides of the plate, not when he wears an intimidating stare and shuts down the powerful lineup.

“We’ve put ourselves in a good situation,” said Cain. “We’ve just got to take that confidence and some of the good approaches that we’ve had into these last two games and take them down to Texas with us.”


When he left the game following 7 2/3 sterling innings, to be anointed with a standing ovation, he tipped his cap to the energized fan base, and one fan hoisted a sign that read, “Cain’t touch this.” There was even a sea of pom-poms wildly swinging to string together the craziest frenzy. Cain is barely 26, but is already close to winning his first World Series. He’s barely in his prime, but his legend is growing rapidly with a franchise that could eventually lavish him with an enormous deal.

With all the drama, he’s more valuable than Lincecum, the ace of the Giants who really isn’t the noteworthy ace but overshadowed by a more superior starter in the rotation. And finally this year, Cain, the longest-tenured Giant, is pitching a gem, not any longer relying on luck or talent. Last season, Cain was mentored by Randy Johnson, who taught him about being a starter. Cain must have listened; he is arguably the best pitcher on the Giants alongside Lincecum and the frightening closer Brian Wilson.

“He did a really good job of emphasizing to stay deep in the game…instead of trying to change the ball in different guys’ hands,” Cain said. “Not trying to say anything…but sometimes those guys might not be feeling good.”

This postseason, no one can match Cain’s resiliency and invincibility. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last 21.1 innings and owns a 2-0 record in his first three postseason starts. Thirty-five year old Edgar Renteria drove a fastball off C.J. Wilson over the left-field wall for a fifth-inning solo home run. But the real damage came in the eighth inning, the one inning that seemed to be a nightmare from Hell. As Wilson was removed from the sixth with a blister, Cain found his moment to shine.

“He’s probably been our most consistent pitcher,” said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. “He’s such a bulldog…He should be recognized.”

By now, he’s recognized.

Suddenly Texas' Cliff Lee Is Beatable in Bizarre Catastrophe

If he’s not impeccable in the strike zone or doesn’t attack the plate with his breaking balls and vicious curveballs, then he’s not a godlike specimen. Every so often, he exposes his human side and misses the strike zone or allows unearned runs in a perplexing fashion.

It was absolutely a nightmarish night in San Francisco, at a moment when much was a stake. Very rarely does Cliff Lee diminish on the mound amid the grandest stage in baseball.

It couldn’t have come at a worse time near the Bay in one of the most demoralizing World Series games, a contest that Lee desires to erase eternally, a contest he badly blundered and a contest where vulnerability revealed a rampant turn of events.

This, of course, wasn’t the time or place to perform the choke job, but it simply happened and he suddenly threw abnormally. Sometimes, the ripple effect of his customary command isn’t nearly dynamic, but it’s eccentric anytime he surrenders hits against his opponents. Sometimes, it just isn’t the night to be an invincible ace on the mound.

So what happened to the unhittable Lee?

He simply stumbled in the electric confines of AT&T Park, with the crowd waving orange pom-poms. Texas manager Ron Washington yanked arguably the best pitcher in baseball, in the middle of the fifth inning when Lee wore a distraught, solicitous stare.

This was, after all, the most scrutinized outing in his near-perfect career, serving as a significant element in the Texas Rangers' beautiful story and turnaround season.

On a shaky night, he allowed the Giants to compile double-digit runs and steal Game 1 in a decisive 11-7 win.

Without his flawless command, he was bullied on the mound and never had rhythm of his pitches, partly for falling behind in the count and having trouble executing his scintillating, hanging curveball.

Nolan Ryan left the ballpark speechless, confounded after a mysterious game that had everyone wondering what exactly happened to Lee. It was his first postseason loss in nine starts in which the Giants assembled brilliant hitting and took advantage of Lee’s bungles.

Was this a hangover? Maybe.

But more frightening was Lee’s inability to retire his opponents, leaving pitches in the middle of the strike zone or giving up walks on his frequent misses over the plate.

The biggest disappointment for the most intriguing pitcher in the majors happened so quickly in the fifth. Moments later, an erratic performance turned disastrous as Lee continued to have difficulty locating his fastball, had defects in throwing his cutters, and had glitches tossing his unpredictable and unhittable curveball.

“I was a little erratic and trying to find it,” Lee said. “For whatever reason, I couldn’t get consistent locating pitches. That’s the games where you’ve got to go to Plan B and battle, and that’s what I was trying to do. They made me throw a ton of pitches, and in that fifth inning I’ve got to do a better job with damage control.”

He has to locate his fastballs and stay composed, too. Or else it will be a long series for a ball club that has endured four decades of anguish, now aiming to win its first World Series in franchise history.


Before the opener of the Fall Classic, Lee was impressive and extraordinary of throwing the ball over the plate to strike out his opponents. He was divine during the regular-season and had never been described as dazed or confused on the mound, as if he was a minor-leaguer trying to find his way in the big leagues.

His numbers in the regular season were staggering alone, but in the Fall Classic he wasn’t careful in the strike zone and had a disastrous fifth inning. However, in the regular season, 71.2 percent of his pitches were strikes, the highest number for any starter in 11 years. Prior to the World Series, in three postseason starts, he was spectacular and threw strikes 71.3 percent of the time.

Rarely did an opponent assemble a remarkable shred of hitting. Rarely, if any, did Lee surrender seven earned runs in a game. His earned run average was 1.26, trailing only Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax and Christy Mathewson, until he pitched poorly in the World Series and now has an ERA of 11.57.

“This is exactly what we wanted,” outfielder Cody Ross said. “We wanted to beat him.”

And they did just that.

“We wanted to beat whoever was on the mound,” he said. “It could have been Cy Young.”

He certainly didn’t have Cy Young stuff on this night.

Either way, that is, Lee is just as beatable as the next big-name ace. Never has there been a horrifying scene this horrendous, but on this occasion, he was hittable subsequently for giving up seven runs on eight hits, including five doubles.

At the end of the season, he’ll be the hottest free agent on the market and has already been in consideration of signing an eight-year, $160 million deal from the Yankees.

But after the left-hander morphed into a defenseless ace and had trouble revoking danger, he has to prove that he’s still worthy of pocketing valuable cash by next spring. Which I still believe he is targeted as a top free agent in the market this offseason and could fittingly suit a developing rotation. Assuming he’ll stay in Texas next season, Lee is a reliable ace even if he had one formidable outing.

“I expect to be successful every time I take the mound,” Lee said.

I’d imagine, especially in his contract year.

“Everybody has such high expectations of Cliff,” Rangers center fielder Josh Hamilton said. “Cliff has such high expectations of himself. We know what kind of pitcher he is. We know he can dominate a game. But he’s human, too. He didn’t have a bad performance tonight. He had a normal pitcher’s performance, but he’s not a normal pitcher either.”

True, he’s not a normal pitcher. No one is for that matter. But he is expected to perform brilliantly as if he’s an unhittable perfectionist. For a change, the Giants hit Lee harder than ever.

Along came the fifth inning, when they shredded him and manufactured runs to quickly erase the Rangers' 2-0 lead, he saw his night shrink and end all so miserably. Of all the games, after he hadn’t allowed a run in 16 innings, he blew it. His relief Darren O’Day suddenly stepped onto the mound and blew it, too, and yielded a three-run homer to Juan Uribe.

As for the Giants, Freddy Sanchez had three doubles in his first three at-bats, not to mention that Huff finished 2-for-3 against Lee and Cody Ross had an RBI single. Even worse, the Giants were 5-of-10 with runners in scoring position against Lee.

What a strange night.

He failed to tie Bob Gibson. But it clearly wasn’t about individual feats, and was instead about prevailing in an urgent game. He couldn’t last seven innings for the first time in seven starts. For all we know, he could have been a bit fatigued and worn down.

“You’ve got to give credit to their hitters,” said Lee. I didn’t work ahead in the count…I was missing with my fastball. I was missing with my cutter…I missed out over the plate…It’s not acceptable.”

For a guy who is very hard on himself, he sure seems ready to rebound from such a devastating blow. Knowingly, he won’t have an encore of meltdowns.

It was just a bad night. After all, he is human.