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Cain Dominates Angels

Matt Cain turned in one of the most exciting starts I've ever seen Monday night in San Francisco vs. the Angels. I happened to be at the game and the electricity in the park was very intense towards the last half of the game. Unfortunetly, I had to pull a Dodger fan move and show up in the 3rd inning, and missed all the scoring and offense, but Cain made it all worth the 18 dollar ticket. I mentioned in a post a few weeks back that Cain looked a little wild and maybe needed to go back to Fresno for a few starts, but he showed Monday what he is capable of doing every time he takes the ball. His stuff was solid from the first pitch, up untill pitch number 131. His fastball was still hitting 96-97 mph on the gun in the 8th inning. I'm sure Felipe Alou and Dave Righetti would have had Cain go out there for the ninth if the no-no was still intact, but the kid would have been approaching 150 pitches, something that I doubt he's ever came close to doing. Someting happened in this game that I've never seen before. Cain had a no-hitter into the 8th, yet the Angels had one run on the board. Armondo Benitez had to give everybody a a little scare by letting Mike Napoli get on with a single, but he pulled it out. Once again, the Giants are at .500. I really can't get excited about any kind of winning streak this team gets on, because it always seems that every other week, they're going to be back at .500. This team has an inabillity to string together long winning streaks mostly due to inconsistant pitching. Hopefully Cain feads off this start and takes off from here. He's now above .500 at 6-5, and his era is below 5 as well now at 4.79. Matt Morris has now strung together 4 quality starts in a row, and he goes for his 5th Tuesday vs. The Anaheim Angels of Los Angelos, or whatever you want to call them. This is going to be a big game for Matty Mo' and the Giants. They are trying to get back above .500, and Morris needs to continue proving to Giants fans that he was worth the contract he got. If he turns in another W tonight, I will probably stop cringing everytime he takes the ball.

John Smolz is apparantly considering a trade from the Braves if it's to the right team and the right situation. The Detroit Tigers have been in talks with the Braves and Smoltz would likely approve a trade there, because that's his hometown. I think the Giants should definetly consider making an offer. Smoltz has an option for next year at 8 million dollars, and that is more than a bargain if you ask me. I know Smoltz is pushing 40, and that is the last thing the Giants need, but Jason Schmidt is going to be a free agent after the season, and he is most definetly going to command more than 8 million dollars. Heck, Matt Morris is making 8 million per year. I think Smoltz has at least 1 more solid if not dominant season left in him after this one, so I think it would be well worth the risk. Smoltz is currently 4-5 with a 3.78 era, but he has been victim of a sketchy Braves offense and bullpen. He can probably be had, and I think it would make some sense for the Giants to pursue that route. If there was anyway the Giants could land Smoltz and somehow keep Schmidt after the year, then your talking one helluva a rotation next season. The Braves would likely want far more than the Giants would give up, but we've seen Sabean pull off those kind of deals without losing out on too much (not counting the Nathan-Pierzynski trade). Yes the Giants need offense more than they need another arm right now, but if you beef up the rotation with the likes of a John Smoltz, it compensates for an average offense.

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