Blessed with a big lead from his teammates, Matt Cain didn’t survive the top of the sixth inning.
Matt Cain’s out of the game, but not before plunking Matt Holliday
He lasted long enough for a big of payback, though. As everyone no doubt recalls, Game 1 featured Matt Holliday executing a devastating body-block into Marco Scutaro at second base; Scutaro would later chip in with a big hit before leaving the game, then return to the lineup and hit like gangbusters throughout this series.
Immediately after Holliday took out Scutaro, the speculation began: Would one of the Giants' pitchers retaliate against Holliday? The answer, through the rest of Game 1, and then through Games 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6, was no.
But when Holliday led off the sixth, the Giants ahead 7-0, was this 0-and-2 fastball an accident?
Maybe it was. Maybe the pitch just got away from Cain.
After a line-out and a line-drive single, Cain struck out David Freese with his 102nd pitch.
Which finished Cain's evening. With two outs in the sixth, Bruce Bochy came out and got the ball from Cain, handed it to Jeremy Affeldt, and Affeldt retired Daniel Descalso to end the Cardinals desultory threat.
The Giants put a couple of runners aboard in the bottom of the sixth, but both were stranded. Not that it’s likely to matter, because it’s still San Francisco 7, St. Louis 0.
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