Cain of old makes a cameo
Veteran throws lots of pitches but gives up no runs
SAN FRANCISCO — Matt Cain returned to the AT&T Park mound Friday night for the first time since July 9 and gave the Giants precisely what they were hoping to see — some solid flashes of the old Matt Cain.
While Cain surrendered some hard-hit balls against the A’s and had an unusually high pitch count for just four innings of work, the veteran right-hander gave up no runs and finished a 79-pitch outing at his strongest.
The Giants are in dire need of some answers from their starters after Madison Bumgarner, and after Jake Peavy’s rough outing Thursday, the club surely had to be buoyed by Cain’s effort, in which he allowed three hits and two walks but struck out three. It didn’t hurt to see a Buster Posey threerun home run in a 4-0 victory, either, Posey’s first fair ball over a wall since Sept. 28. He hit none in the 2014 postseason and hadn’t gone deep throughout spring training.
Cain certainly was happy just to be back on the mound at AT&T, above and beyond the results.
“It felt good, really good to be back in this energy, back in front of the crowd,” Cain said. “I’ve been missing that for a while. It’s just the whole atmosphere. You get home, you get the lights, you get that third deck. Spring training just has a different feeling. It’s a little more laid-back.”
Cain couldn’t afford to be laid-back in his final tuneup after compiling an 8.22 ERA in his five spring training starts in Arizona. Manager Bruce Bochy said before the game that he’s counting on the 30-year-old to reassume his position as a rotation workhorse who eventually slots in as the No. 2 man behind Bumgarner.
Cain, who is trying to complete his recovery from elbow surgery in August, acknowledged that he still needs a little more arm strength and a bit more pitch polishing but is satisfied at where he is with the regular season now at hand. That was particularly the case after Friday’s outing.
“I felt good, I felt strong, even to the end of it,” he said. “We threw a lot of pitches in a short amount of time, but everything kept feeling good, which is a good thing for me. I just have to try to cut the pitch count down and get a little deeper into the game.”
Cain said he still has to work through post-outing soreness in his elbow but added it’s a natural part of the comeback process.
“That’s a process that’s a little different for me, but being able to talk to the trainers and understanding that has been helpful,” he said.
Bochy said afterward that the Giants will continue closely monitoring Cain in the early part of the season but thinks he’s ready to add more to his pitch count.
“We don’t want a setback with him,” the manager said. “Still, with that said, he threw around 80 pitches, so he’s good for about 100 pitches. That’s where you want your guys as you start the season.”
Posey said he thought Cain was “pretty crisp.”
“I know he would have liked to have some quicker innings, but all in all, stuffwise it was good,” Posey said. “It was just good to see him out there.”
The catcher also was happy he could launch a big blast so close to the start of the season.
“My swing’s been progressively feeling like I’m getting to the spot I need to be at to start the season,” he said.
Travis Ishikawa’s back continues to improve in Arizona, and he has resumed baseball activities. Bochy added that a decision will need to be made Saturday on whether to put Ishikawa on the disabled list. They open the regular season Monday in Phoenix against the Diamondbacks.
One-time top outfield prospect Gary Brown was claimed off waivers by the St. Louis Cardinals after being designated for assignment earlier this week.
Brown, 26, was a 2010 first-round pick and a former top 100 prospect, but after a fast start in the minors, his numbers deteriorated as he advanced through the system. He hit just .154 during spring training.
Bochy said Tim Lincecum is likely to pitch an inning in Oakland on Saturday after scheduled starter Tim Hudson. Lincecum’s next start is slated for April 10.