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Giants Waste Cain’s Gem; Succumb to Cubs
By Paul Wertheim July 11, 2008 |
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CHICAGO - Matt Cain tried everything in his pitcher’s arsenal to stop the Giants from dropping a fifth-straight game by pitching seven scoreless innings. After Ryan Theriot’s single in the bottom of the third inning, Cain even retired 10 straight batters. But his effort was not enough. Enter reliever Tyler Walker (3-5, 4.67) in the bottom of the eighth. After giving up a lead-off single to Cubs shortstop Ryan Theriot, who then advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt, and intentionally walking All-Star Derek Lee, Aramis Ramirez smashed a first-pitch, one-out homerun just around the left-field foul pole. And Chicago went on to beat the Giants 3-1 at Wrigley field this afternoon before the delight of 41605 fans. “Bengie Molina said to get a fastball in,” Walker said. “What can I say, I missed the spot. It was a rough day, a rough stretch here for us. This was not exactly what we needed.” The Giants have now dropped five games in a row, a losing streak that started back on July fifth when they lost the rubber match at AT&T Park to the Dodgers. They came into the Windy City after being swept out of the Big Apple by the New York Mets. “It’s a hard one to lose when you get that type of pitching effort,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “This was very tough, and it’s not going to get any easier. We know that.” Cubs’ starter Jason Marquis (7-5, 4.78) also had a strong outing, holding an exhausted and slumping Giants lineup hitless for seven innings and striking out four. And if a five-game losing streak before the All-Star break is not enough bad news for the Giants, right-fielder Randy Winn left the game in the third inning with a right-knee contusion. Down 3-0 headed into the top of the ninth with Cubs closer Kerry Wood (4-2, 2.89) taking the mound to face the top of the Giants order, Ray Durham smashed a lead-off double over left-fielder Mark DeRosa’s head onto the warning track. Eugenio Valez walked to put runners on first and second with no outs, when catcher Bengie Molina clubbed a high fastball into right field for an RBI single, pulling the Giants within two runs with runners on the corners and no outs. The rally ended there. Wood struck out Rowand, got Bowker to flyout and Aurilia to ground out to Derek Lee. “We tried there at the end to get back in it, we just couldn’t get some runs here for him (Cain),” Bochy said. “It was a terrific outing for him.” Ray Durham went 4-for-2 and was the only Giant to show any life at the plate. After a tough series in New York, the Giants' batters looked weary. “We’re still competing,” Randy Winn said. “But the results are just not there. Let’s not make a bigger deal of the losing streak than it is. It’s just a small part of the season.” The Giants send Kevin Correia (1-5, 4.96) to the mound tomorrow to face former Oakland Athletics starter Rich Harden (5-1, 2.98), who will make his first start for the Cubs after being traded on July 8. |
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