Cain frustrated by sudden loss of focus

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Matt Cain was having a nice start in the Giants’ first televised game of the spring Wednesday night, getting Joc Pederson to hit into a double play to end the first inning and two quick outs in the second. Cain made a lot of folks at Scottsdale Stadium and in TV land happy when he struck out Yasiel Puig on a curveball.

Then it fell apart. Three straight Dodgers singled, Henry Ramos tripled home two, and in the blink of an eye, Cain had allowed three runs. Worse, he admitted he lost focus.

“I know what I’m supposed to do,” he said. “That’s where it’s a little frustrating. You’ve got to give yourself a little bit of slack, obviously, because it is spring, fourth inning in, but those are the things you just don’t want to carry over any further.”

Especially when fighting for a rotation spot against a hungry rookie.

To accentuate the point, Ty Blach followed Cain with two hitless innings, the first scoreless outing by any of the six pitchers who have a realistic shot at starting the year in the rotation.

Cain could point to positives in his second start. He said he felt better mechanically and was moving in the “right direction.” That seemed true enough over his first five hitters.

“I just got a little sloppy with the focus and nailing down pitches, and guys are going to take advantage of that,” he said. “I’ve got to do a better job after getting two quick outs staying in it.” Parker rolling: Jarrett Parker entered the left-field competition with a slight advantage. In these first games, he has done nothing to fall off the leaderboard In the 7-6 loss to the Dodgers, Parker hit his second homer of the spring, a three-run shot to right off prospect Madison Younginer in the third inning, after lining an RBI double off the base of the fence against left-handed starter Scott Kazmir in the first.

For the spring, Parker is 4-for-9 with a double, two homers and six RBIs. Even his lone out Wednesday was a long fly to left-center.

“A lot of guys are searching for their swings,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s not. That’s what you’re hoping to see: Guys competing for jobs playing well.” Briefly: Buster Posey was scratched with a stiff neck but reported improvement. Bochy hopes Posey can catch Matt Moore on Thursday ... Blach’s full first and middle names are Tyson Michael. He swears his parents were not boxing fans.