Cain earns victory with strong arm, key hit

April 13th, 2017

SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants right-hander played a starring role in Wednesday's 6-2 win over the D-backs, tossing five-plus strong innings and sparking a three-run rally with his bat.
Cain struggled with his command early, giving up a first-inning run on A.J. Pollock's leadoff triple and 's sacrifice fly, but he settled down after that, giving up five hits and walking three while striking out six. He also set the tone for San Francisco's big bottom of the fifth inning, when he hit a stand-up double and came around to score the Giants' first run of the night. It marked Cain's first win since Aug. 6, and the fans let him hear it with a standing ovation as he walked off the mound.
"There's nothing better than to be able to have that," Cain said. "For the fans, that's greatly appreciated."

Cain, once San Francisco's ace, is doing his part to hold on to the No. 5 spot in the rotation after being bumped to the bullpen to wrap up 2016. Following Wednesday's contest, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Cain will make his next scheduled start Tuesday in Kansas City.
"Really, really nice moment there," Bochy said. "I know Matty's been through a lot. He's really been battling to get on track."
Later in the fifth, the Giants took the lead with an RBI single from and padded it with another from off Arizona starter . San Francisco tacked on three more runs in the seventh before the D-backs scored a run in the eighth.

With the victory, the Giants (4-6) avoided losing their first three series of a season for the first time since 2007 while denying Arizona (7-3) its second 8-2 start in franchise history.
"We had some runners in scoring position. I know there were a couple of moments where we had a little pressure put on them," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "Sometimes you have to give the opposition some credit. They made pitches when they had to and got some big outs at the right time."
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MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Striking out the side: After Cain gave up a leadoff single and subsequent walk in the sixth, Bochy called on to come in and stem the tide. The right-hander answered the call in spectacular fashion, getting three straight strikeouts to strand two runners and get his team back in the dugout.
"Going into the situation," Gearrin said, "you just want to get out of it without any damage. That's what we did tonight. Bullpen pitched great."
• Gearrin bails out Cain with stellar relief

Put 'em away: The Giants broke the game open with three runs in the bottom of the seventh, highlighted by a two-run triple from . Two batters after Nick Hundley stretched the lead to 4-1 with a booming RBI double off the right-field wall, Parker laced a triple off the wall in center to drive home Hundley and Joe Panik.
"Good for Park," Bochy said. "I think he's been pressing a little bit. He had a nice night. Had a couple of hits beating the shift and he hit that one against the wind. That ball was crushed."

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Arizona third baseman went 3-for-3 with a double, a walk and a run scored to extend his hitting streak to nine games, which is tied with Washington's for the best current streak in MLB.

WHAT'S NEXT
D-backs: The D-backs will take Thursday off before opening a four-game series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Zack Greinke will start Friday night's 7:10 p.m. MST game against former teammate and good friend .
Giants: The Giants are set to face the Rockies for the first time this season when they open the series Thursday night (7:15 p.m. PT) at AT&T Park. Ace will take the hill following Saturday's impressive performance, when he hurled MLB's first complete game of 2017 but took the decision in a 2-1 loss to San Diego.
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