Mercury News
Somebody alert whoever owns the hot-tub time machine. Matt Cain stole the keys and took it back to 1968.
The equine-strong right-hander is doing a fair Juan Marichal impression over his past four starts — minus the high leg kick, of course. He dominated again Tuesday night, throwing a seven-hitter and also contributing a run-scoring single as the Giants grabbed a 3-0 victory over the Reds at Great American Ball Park.
Cain has thrown complete games in three of his past four starts, going eight strong in the only exception. That's right, you non-math majors: the bullpen has thrown just one inning over Cain's past four assignments.
His 116-pitch effort at Great American Ball Park might be the best of the lot. It came against the league's highest-scoring team in a hitter-friendly yard; Cain became just the fifth opponent to throw a shutout in the ballpark's 600-game history.
He also became the first opponent to throw a complete game against the Reds this season.
Cain is succeeding with a 92 mph fastball that has explosive life. And he's throwing it to a dime.
"It jumps right to you and has that little tail-off," catcher Bengie Molina said. "When I see that, it means he's on top of the ball and on his game.
"He's a horse, man. He smells a complete game or a win and he gets stronger and stronger. It's amazing."
Said first baseman Aubrey Huff: "It's 91, 92 (mph) on the black at the kneesTry doing something with that." The Giants clinched a winning trip with two games still to play on the banks of the Ohio River. Juan Uribe crushed a solo home run into the upper deck in the fourth, and the bottom of the lineup contributed two two-out, run-scoring singles in the eighth. No. 8 hitter Molina shot the first of those clutch hits into center field, a massive relief for an ailing catcher who entered in a 4-for-55 slump and on the verge of losing playing time. Cain drew attention to the punishment Molina has taken behind the plate and also praised him for maintaining focus through his woes. "He's opened up a lot of pitches for me, getting confidence going with a lot of pitches in a lot of counts," Cain said. "He has the confidence in your stuff, and he projects that back onto you. "No matter what he's doing on the hitting side, he's keeping the pitching in line." Molina would like nothing better than to see Cain standing on the foul line in the All-Star Game. The right-hander was a first-time selection last year but wasn't able to pitch because he got smoked on his right elbow by a line drive. "It's my wish for him, not only to go, but to pitch," Molina said. "I was so disappointed for him last year. At least he was selected, but to play in that game is a whole other thing." Cain is only 5-4, but his other credentials are glossy enough. His 2.11 ERA is sixth in the NL, and his .195 opponents average is third behind Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez and Giants teammate Jonathan Sanchez. "Everybody wants to go," Cain said. "For me, it would be special, because it definitely didn't work out the way you'd want to. We'll see." Cain's 11th career complete game probably wouldn't have happened if not for Andres Torres, who had another eye-opening night in center field. Torres made a diving catch of Ramon Hernandez's sinking line drive to end the seventh inning. "Ball right at him, that's not an easy play," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He's so quick and so sure-handed out there. I'd put him up there among the best outfielders in the game. That's how good I think he is."
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