Deep down, as a Giants fan, you knew the day Brian Wilson's marathon saves streak ended, Matt Cain would be the starter getting the short end of the stick. The fates demanded it.
So it was Wednesday night when Wilson allowed a two-out, three-run homer in the ninth inning to Marlins pinch-hitter John Baker, turning Cain's 5-2 gem into a 5-5 pumpkin. Wilson had his first blown save since May 2, ending his streak of saves at 24 and costing the luckless Cain a chance to reach .500 for the first time since he was 1-1 on April 22, 2007.
Still, Cain was smiling in the end because the Giants won 6-5. After Wilson struck out Jorge Cantu to end the top of the ninth, Bengie Molina won it in the bottom half with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly against Matt Lindstrom.
"The important thing is we won," manager Bruce Bochy said, "and we won because of Matt Cain's job."
That was easy for Bochy to say. He got a managerial win. But if a true test of character is the ability to celebrate a win in the face of personal adversity, then Cain and Wilson, aged 23 and 26, passed.
Cain was ebullient despite seeing his ninth win disappear when Florida was down to its final out.
"He doesn't have to apologize to me," Cain said of Wilson. "He's obviously not happy with what happened. It doesn't matter if I win six games or 20 games. If we have success as a team, that's the biggest thing. That's what's important to us. We've had a good run lately except for the stretch in Houston, and we bounced back from that, so keep it going."
Wilson said he felt "pretty terrible" about blowing the win for Cain, "with all the hardships he's had." Wilson did not mourn his saves streak, which was the fourth longest in San Francisco history. Even with his third blown save of 2008 he is 33-for-36 in his first full season as closer.
"The beauty of it is," Wilson said, "I get to come back to work tomorrow and start over."
Baker tied the game with an opposite-field jolt to left in an inning that began with a Cody Ross double. Wilson struck out Jeremy Hermida and Wes Helms, but Alfredo Amezaga kept the Marlins alive with a single before Baker hit an outside fastball into the bleachers. Asked if the pitch was where he wanted it, Wilson, his sense of humor intact, said, "No, I didn't want it to go out."
The Giants played a good all-around game.
Cain set the tone with 72/3 innings of two-run ball. He lost a streak of his own when Hermida hit a two-run homer in the fourth off the roof of the Willie Mays Wall in right field, an easy fly to right in most parks. Cain had not surrendered a homer since June 4, a span of 95 innings.
Randy Winn made bookend contributions. He hit his 16th career game-opening homer to stake Cain to a 1-0 lead and singled in the decisive ninth, after Dave Roberts' leadoff walk. Ivan Ochoa dropped a perfect sacrifice before Aaron Rowand was walked intentionally to load the bases. Molina needed one swing to win it, hitting a deep flyball to center that easily got Roberts home.
Rowand singled to open a three-run sixth against Marlins starter Scott Olsen. Rich Aurilia, whose biggest contributions in this game came at third base, hit an RBI double. Fred Lewis added an RBI single as did Emmanuel Burriss, after Pablo Sandoval was walked intentionally.
Rowand considered the win a good antidote to the 6-0 loss that opened this homestand Tuesday. Despite all the good execution at the plate, Rowand credited a pitcher who got no decision as the biggest contributor.
"Tonight's win is in large part because of the way Matty went out and threw the ball and competed," he said.
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