Cain pitches Giants past rival L.A.
SAN FRANCISCO — Matt Cain pitched six scoreless innings to beat the Dodgers for the first time in nearly four years, and the San Francisco Giants snapped a four-game losing streak with a 2-1 win against Los Angeles on Monday night.
Joe Panik hit a second-inning sacrifice fly off Hyun-Jin Ryu (0-4) in just the Giants’ second victory in their last eight games. Hunter Pence added a key RBI single for insurance in the seventh.
Top prospect Christian Arroyo was promoted by the Giants to be the new regular third baseman and he went 0 for 4 with three groundouts to second and a strikeout.
Cain (2-0) allowed two hits, struck out three and walked one and has been a steady presence in San Francisco’s rotation so far. He beat the Dodgers for the first time since May 5, 2013, also at AT&T Park. The right-hander, a victim of low run support for years and with injury bad luck the past few seasons, had been 0-3 with a 4.86 ERA in six starts since.
After the game, manager Bruce Bochy said that one of Cain’s hamstrings tightened and he’ll have it checked.
Mark Melancon, San Francisco’s fourth reliever, finished for his fourth save in five chances. Justin Turner extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a one-out single in the ninth.
Ryu has lost his last six starts since Sept. 12, 2014, still seeking his first victory since Aug. 31, ‘14.
Pinch-hitter Chris Taylor’s groundout in the seventh got the Dodgers on the board, but they lost their sixth straight in San Francisco after going 28 at AT&T Park last year.
Eduardo Nunez moved from third to left field for San Francisco with the addition of Arroyo.
Romo’s return — Sergio Romo was downright giddy to be back at AT&T Park, where he got his big league start spending his first nine seasons with the Giants — and helping them to
three World Series championships.
“For me, it’s a homecoming, it really is,” he said, sitting in the Dodgers dugout before the game, then adding of the rivalry, “It’s on, it’s on, it’s on.”
He pitched the eighth for L.A. to some chants of “Beat Ro-mo!”
Romo highlights were shown — complete with his entry music “El Mechon” — after the first inning and he smiled, popped out of the dugout and tipped his cap every which way, even sending an air hug to the opposite dugout and his old teammates and coaches.
Trainer’s room — Giants: LHP Madison Bumgarner, out indefinitely with bruised ribs and a sprained pitching shoulder, shared details of his dirt bike accident last Thursday in Colorado. He had a protective sling over his pitching arm as he sat in the dugout and he will likely wear it for another week to 10 days, athletic trainer Dave Groeschner said.