Matt Cain doesn't have the hair, the hardware or the heat of Tim Lincecum, so he is still just a supporting character when most baseball fans from around the country consider the Giants pitching staff.That may be changing this month.
While Lincecum has been spectacularly good and a little bit frazzled, all in one postseason, Cain has simply strung together one zero after another.
CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt ... all came into this October in the spotlight as pitchers to watch.
None of them has been as good as Matt Cain, whose postseason ERA is a tidy 0.00.
Cain blanked the Rangers into the eighth inning of the Giants' 9-0 victory in Game 2 of the World Series, a performance which came on the heels of seven scoreless innings against the powerhouse Phillies in the NLCS.
"He's turned it up," said Giants veteran Mark DeRosa. "That's what big players do. They feed off this environment and he has kicked his game into another gear."
Including his start in Game 2 against the Braves in the NLDS, Cain has pitched 21 1/3 innings this postseason without allowing an earned run. (He gave up one unearned run to the Braves.) He is the sixth pitcher in major league history to have three consecutive starts in the same postseason without allowing an earned run. He is the fourth to do it in his first three starts. The last was John Matlack of the Mets in 1973.
Cain doesn't fit the profile of the Giants' other postseason heroes. He is neither a veteran rediscovering his youth (see Renteria, Edgar) nor a journeyman having a hot month (see Ross, Cody).
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