Cain was perfect vs. the Astros
San Francisco — Matt Cain tossed and turned and managed all of about four hours of sleep following his historymaking gem for the Giants. Perfectly understandable. Cain’s perfect game will be remembered among the most masterful pitching performances in regular-season baseball history, if not ever.
San Francisco’s ace righthander dominated the Houston Astros every which way Wednesday night in a 10- 0 win for the 22nd perfect game ever and the fifth no-hitter already this year.
He struck out a career-best 14 batters, making up more than half of his 27 straight outs and tying Sandy Koufax for most Ks in a perfecto. Cain (8-2) threw 19 first-pitch strikes and never faced a 2-0 count in winning his careerhigh seventh straight start.
“I’m still pumped,” said Cain, who was back on the field playing catch with fellow starter Madison Bumgarner by 10: 15 a. m. Thursday after a workout. “I haven’t really had a ton of time to sit down and look over stuff, see how it all happened. I don’t know that it has hit me yet, maybe when I can sit down and watch the highlights, go over the game.”
Add in a pair of improbable catches by Melky Cabrera and Gregor Blanco to preserve the bid, and Cain wound up with the first perfect game in the franchise’s storied 130- year history and its 14th no-hitter. It was the third this month, as Cain joined the Mets’ Johan Santana and a combined nono by Seattle’s staff.
He threw 125 pitches — most ever in a perfect game — and 86 of those for strikes. Seven of his strikeouts were called. He didn’t shake off catcher Buster Posey even once. They were in sync on this memorable evening, all right.
“It’s something I always wanted to do since I was little, but it’s kind of a blur when it actually happens,” Cain said Thursday, when the Giants lost their series finale to Houston 6-3.
Cain followed up Bumgarner’s 12-strikeout night Tuesday, and they became the first Giants pitchers to record consecutive double-digit strikeout games since Vida Blue and John Montefusco in May 1978.
“Things like this bring a team together even more,” San Francisco skipper Bruce Bochy said. “That’s the first one I’ve seen. It was an incredible night. Matt was going about it like a normal game. That last at-bat he sprinted to first base and I yelled, “Hey, take it easy.’ But he always plays the game hard.”
Team President and CEO Larry Baer and the rest of the brass must have been pinching themselves in delight that they decided to reward the two-time All-Star with a $127.5 million, six-year contract days before the season began — the richest for a right-hander.
The 27- year- old Cain showed glimpses of his potential for perfection in consecutive starts in mid-April.
There was a one- hitter against Pittsburgh in the home opener, then nine shutout innings against Cliff Lee and the Phillies in a 1-0, 11- inning Giants victory his next time out— a memorable game in which the aces combined to throw 19 scoreless innings.
Yet even Giants Hall of Famers Carl Hubbell, Christy Mathewson, Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry hadn’t accomplished what Cain did Wednesday.
Perry, who lives in the North Carolina mountain town of Spruce Pine, caught the replays when he woke up early Thursday. He’s thrilled the Giants have a perfecto at last.
“I’ll take that no- hitter I had, though,” Perry said with a laugh, taking a break Thursday from painting his horse barn. “I saw him in the spring and he was throwing well. He was just a strong young man and I expect great things out of him, maybe not another perfect game. I think he’ll be the first guy in many years to win 20 games for us. He has the fight in him, he has the stuff and he has the determination to do just that.”