Cain Gives Giants 9-0 Win, 2-0 World Series Lead
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Matt Cain shut down the Texas Rangers with the type of suffocating pitching that put the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.
Two more games like this and they'll win the World Series.
Cain was sharp, the Rangers bullpen was not and San Francisco broke away for a 9-0 win Thursday night. The Giants headed to Texas with a 2-0 lead that looked to come way too easily.
Edgar Renteria reprised his October success with a go-ahead home run, and the Giants erupted with seven runs in the eighth, the biggest inning in their postseason history.
Four straight two-out walks by Texas relievers let the game out of control. At this rate, team president and part-owner Nolan Ryan probably wants to grab a ball himself and get on the mound.
Texas set a record for most runs allowed in a franchise's first two Series games.
"You take all the runs you can get," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's nice to have a cushion going into the ninth."
Cain drew frenzied ovations from a crowd waving Halloween-colored orange pompons, a day after the Giants won the opener 11-7.
San Francisco pushed across just 19 runs against Philadelphia in the six-game NL championship series but has outscored Texas 20-7 and outhit the Rangers .314 to .227.
"I think that more or less it has to do with the pitching we've been facing," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We had some opportunities early in the ballgame to put some runs on the board, and we had the right people up there, and he made his pitches."
C.J. Wilson allowed Renteria's fifth-inning homer, then left the mound accompanied by a trainer with a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand following a leadoff walk in the seventh. Juan Uribe added a run-scoring single against reliever Darren Oliver.
"This blister is something he's been dealing with all year," Washington said. "He'll put some glue on it and do whatever he has to do to close it up."
San Francisco pulled away as Washington again made bullpen moves too late. Derek Holland relieved with a man on and forced in a run with three straight walks, the last to Aubrey Huff, and Mark Lowe forced in another run with a walk to Uribe.
Renteria, whose 11th-inning single won Game 7 of the 1997 Series for Florida against Cleveland, followed with a two-run single to left. Pinch-hitter Aaron Rowand hit a two-run triple against Michael Kirkman, and Andres Torres doubled in a run.
Cain allowed four hits in 7 2-3 innings, struck out two and walked two -- one intentional. With the Giants ahead 2-0, left-handed specialist Javier Lopez retired Josh Hamilton on a lazy flyout to strand a runner on second in the eighth.
As fans stood cheering, Guillermo Mota completed the four-hitter.
Forty of the previous 51 teams to take a 2-0 lead have gone on to win the title, including seven straight and 13 of the last 14. The last to overcome a 2-0 deficit was the 1996 New York Yankees against Atlanta. The Giants have won each time they took a 2-0 lead: in 1922, 1933 and 1954.
San Francisco improved to 11-0 against Texas at AT&T Park and got its third shutout in nine postseason wins. The Giants sent the high-octane Rangers offense to its first shutout since Sept. 23.
But after a day off, the Series resumes for the first time in Arlington, Texas. Colby Lewis starts Game 3 for the Rangers on Saturday night against Jonathan Sanchez.
"I don't think we caught any breaks yet," Washington said. "We certainly don't feel like we're defeated. We're heading home. They took care of us in their ballpark, now we're headed to ours."
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Víctor Lei
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