MercuryNews
LOS ANGELES -- Matt Cain had a golden arm and Bruce Bochy had a golden gut during the Giants' postseason march to the World Series title last autumn.
Those two body parts were most valuable again as the Giants captured their first victory of 2011.
Cain pitched six shutout innings and Bochy's managerial hunch paid off, as surprising leadoff man Miguel Tejada -- batting atop the order for the first time in more than 11 years -- sparked a blaze in a 10-0 victory Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
"You've got your pants hiked up today, huh, Mike?" Aubrey Huff said during batting practice to Tejada, who drove in the Giants' first two runs and scored two. "He said, 'Yeah, I'm leading off. I've got to be fast today.'
"Hey, he's going to hit. He's a hitter. Put him anywhere in the lineup."
After opening the season with two error-filled losses, the Giants didn't have any hiccups behind Cain. Even if they had, they hit enough to cover up a few mistakes.
Perhaps that will be a difference with this year's more potent offensive club, and nobody would enjoy it more than the pitching staff.
Cain extended his roll to 271/3 innings without allowing an earned run -- a streak of excellence that includes last October's playoff starts against Atlanta, Philadelphia and Texas. Yet his lifetime record is just 58-62, an incongruity you can pin on a career of criminally unfair run support.
"Matty's a bulldog," said Mark DeRosa, whose first start in 11 months included two hits and two fearless, headfirst slides. "We almost expect guys to throw gems every night. So as an offense, we needed to step up, put some guys in motion, score some runs, do some things. "We're a confident group. We didn't give ourselves a chance to win those first two games. We kicked the ball, and we weren't doing anything to put pressure on those guys. But I definitely think you'll see less panic this year." Bochy didn't show any panic during a brilliant postseason, although it seemed like a belated April Fool's joke when he jotted Tejada, the No. 8 hitter a night earlier, in the leadoff spot. The 36-year-old shortstop had batted leadoff just four times in his career, and not since July 28, 1999, for the A's. "Whoa," said Tejada, told of that fact. "I was a young guy!" Said DeRosa: "Boch came up to me (on Friday) and asked if I'd ever batted leadoff. I didn't recall doing it before, so he went with Miggy. Thank God!" Bochy noted that he didn't have a leadoff presence with Andres Torres getting a day off, and Tejada impressed the manager when he bunted for a single in Friday night's loss. Tejada also had good recent history against Dodgers left-hander Ted Lilly, including two home runs late last season. One of Bochy's favorite phrases is to "keep the line moving," and Tejada helped to nudge a sluggish offense. Until his ground out plated DeRosa in the third inning, the Giants hadn't scored a run without benefit of a home run since Game 4 of the World Series. Freddy Sanchez finished a triple short of the cycle, knocking in runs with a double in the fifth, a single in the sixth and a solo homer in the eighth. Huff made his first hits of 2011 count, too, breaking an 0-for-9 streak with a run-scoring single in the fifth and a two-run single in the sixth. The outpouring did more than allow Cain to win his season debut. It also allowed Bochy to take Cain out after six innings and just 87 pitches -- a luxury for the right-hander after he missed a portion of the spring with right-elbow inflammation. Cain looked fine, topping out at 93 mph and remaining in the low 90s into his final inning. "I was confident he'd be himself today," Bochy said. "He showed it in spring training. He's a tough kid, but he's honest, too. You could tell he wasn't hesitant on any pitch." Cain's arm was solid gold once more. And what about his manager's gut? Did the Tejada decision prove it's still in postseason form, too? "Yeah," Cain deadpanned to a reporter. "It proves he's a lot better manager than you are."
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