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San Francisco Giants' Matt Cain returns to form, looks to future
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San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain throws to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009
in San Francisco. (AP Photo/George Nikitin)
SAN FRANCISCO---The San Francisco Giants may need a miracle to make to the postseason, but they aren’t content with mediocre play for the remaining six games.
Giants’ starter Matt Cain led his team to a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs, avoiding a four-game sweep. Cain won his career-high 14th game this season—a difficult feat to accomplish. The righty hasn’t won a game since September 5th and admits that he may have put too much pressure on himself.
“The last couple starts, I got away from being relaxed and pitching like I have in the first three quarters of the season,” Cain said following Sunday’s day game. “I talked to guys, we worked on some mechanical stuff, but I think it came down to being relaxed and going out there and pitching with confidence, and just having fun out there again. I think that was a big thing.”
Being on a team that had an opportunity to make it to the playoffs was an unfamiliar situation and Cain was aware that various factors affected his mindset. He couldn’t pinpoint one specific source of his unease, but acknowledges getting wins and the pennant chase were two huge causes.
Although adjustments were made too late, Cain is sure the team will keep playing hard until the end of the season for the fans and for themselves.
“I think it’s huge for us [to finish on a good note]. I think it’s going to be a big positive. We’re doing the same thing we wanted to do last year. We felt like we turned a corner coming into spring training,” Cain said. “This year we’ve done a lot. We’ve opened a lot of eyes this year and I think that, obviously, it’s an outside chance [the Giants will make the playoffs], but I think we can finish strong and try to get some stuff going for next spring and try to do the same thing.”
Cain, who pitched eight scoreless innings of three-hit ball, fells that this Giants team consisting of many young players are on a path toward a great future. In the past few seasons there has been a steady positive progression that Cain sees continuing.
“What we’ve done in the past two years, especially this year, I think a lot guys got to feel really good about what they’ve done. We’ve played some real good teams and done some things we probably shouldn’t have,” Cain said as he reflected on the season. “I can think back to maybe some of the games we let go early and really have that experience. I feel like we’ll take over those games [next year] and finish out this year, too.”
Fans share the same optimism that Cain possesses. While September did not reflect the success of the team this season, Sunday’s win—which included hits from every position player in the lineup—was a perfect example of the possibility of the San Francisco Giants.
sidenote: Matt Cain turns 25 on Thursday, the day of the last home game of the season.
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