Matt Cain hasn't won in three weeks, and the right-hander never gave his Giants teammates much of an opportunity to help change his fortunes Wednesday.
Cain was tagged for three runs in the first inning and five runs in five innings in a 5-3 loss to the New York Mets at AT&T Park.
Cain (2-4) attributed much of his struggles to poor command. He allowed three hits and hit a batter on pitches he left up in the strike zone in the first inning. But Cain was most upset with a sequence in the fourth inning in which he issued a two-out walk to pitcher John Maine on five pitches and then left a fastball over the middle of the plate that Jose Reyes clobbered over the right-field wall to give the Mets a 5-1 lead.
"That was probably the defining moment of the game, really," Cain said. "Walking the pitcher with two outs is always going to haunt you."
• The Giants returned home last week riding the momentum of a three-game sweep over West Division-leading Arizona. They responded by losing four of six. The highlight for the Giants was to snap a seven-game home losing streak, the longest since the waterfront ballpark opened in 2000.
"We came off a good road trip and were hoping to carry that into this homestand," Manager Bruce Bochy said. 'It just didn't happen."
• Rookie second baseman Travis Denker, less than 24 hours after hitting his first home run, continued to make an impression. He tripled and scored in the sixth inning and doubled to the left-field wall in the eighth. Denker is 6 for 17 (.353) with four extra-base hits since he was promoted from Triple-A Fresno on May 20.
"I don't think it's really sunk in yet," he said.
• Kevin Correia made another encouraging rehabilitation appearance - yielding three hits and one run with seven strikeouts in five innings for Fresno on Tuesday - but won't return to the Giants' rotation until June 15. The Giants want Correia, who is recovering from an oblique strain, to throw 80-90 pitches with the Grizzlies on Sunday, although the right-hander went into Bochy's office Wednesday to lobby for an earlier return.
"I guess I have one more Fresno start," Correia said. "I'm still trying to talk them out of it. I think I'm ready. I'm over being on the D.L. I'm ready to start."
The Giants will need a starter Tuesday at Colorado, but left-hander Pat Misch is the most likely candidate, Bochy said. Misch, who took Correia's spot in the rotation, is currently working out of the bullpen.
• Shortstop Omar Vizquel is in a 3-for-35 slump (.086), but he had an RBI single in the sixth inning and leaped high to rob David Wright of a hit in the seventh.
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