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		Giants gain a little bit of ground in division race By Jeremy Harness September 14, 2006
	San Francisco Giants' Matt Cain works against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, Sept. 14, 2006, in San Francisco. Cain allowed two hits in eight superb innings to win his fourth straight start, and the Giants gained ground in the NL West race with a 5-0 victory over the Rockies. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
	After suffering major pitching breakdowns midway through Wednesday’s loss to the Colorado Rockies, the Giants rebounded quite nicely the following afternoon, taking care of business with a 5-0 win at AT&T Park. To make sure there were no mishaps, Matt Cain, who is quickly becoming one of the game’s best young pitchers, tossed eight innings of shutout ball, giving up only two hits in the process before giving way to Vinnie Chulk, who pitched a scoreless ninth. The game remained scoreless until the sixth inning, when Moises Alou’s double play grounder brought in a run. The Giants made more of a statement in the next inning, as they scored four runs off Rockies starter Aaron Cook as well as his reliever, Ray King. Second baseman Kevin Frandsen doubled to bring in a run, and three batters later, Shea Hillenbrand added a run-scoring single, chasing Cook from the game. King would give up a single to Alou, which would score two runs and give the Giants a 5-0 lead that they would hold on to. The Dodgers fell to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday, so the Giants are back to being three games behind in the division race, while they sit 2 ½ games behind San Diego for the National league’s wild-card lead. Meanwhile, the Dodgers and Padres will start a four-game series on Friday, with a mere half game separating the two teams. The Giants will now head to St. Louis to face the Cardinals in a three-gamer at the new-and-improved Busch Stadium, a series that starts on Friday night.