Matt Cain is the 2010 stopper. Lincecum was the go-to guy last year; whenever the Giants had a losing streak, he would stop it; which is actually not surprising at all, considering that he pitched behind Joe Martinez and Randy Johnson for a good part of the season, and he was a Cy Young winner.

This season, Matt Cain is becoming that guy. With consecutive bad performances from Sanchez, Bumgarner, Lincecum, and Zito, Cain stopped the bleeding. It wasn’t a brilliant outing: 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 K; but it got the job done nevertheless. The relief was terrible, except Brian Wilson, of course. Casilla, Affeldt, and Lopez combined for four earned runs and five hits in one inning pitched. But Wilson came in and shut the door for 1.2 innings.

Five Giants had multi-hit games: 

Freddy Sanchez – 3 for 5, 2 RBI
Andres Torres – 2 for 4, 2 RBI
Matt Cain – 2 for 3, 1 R
Eli Whiteside – 2 for 4, 2 R
Pablo Sandoval – 2 for 4, 2 R

It’s nice to be seeing Freddy Sanchez and Pablo Sandoval on this list on a daily basis. It legitimizes their “return to form.”

Notes
It’s nice to see Cody Ross in the lineup. He didn’t have a hit, but did get a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning. And he’s an obvious defensive upgrade over Burrell. 

Props to Jose Guillen: he had a clutch hit in the seventh that ultimately was the difference in the game. With runners on second and third, he singled to center to make the score 7-6. Finally, his offense comes at a timely manner.

It will be interesting to see if Posey catches tomorrow. He’s probably recovered by now from his left-forearm strain, but typically Whiteside catches Jonathan Sanchez, because of their rapport since he caught his no-hitter. I’d bet Posey’s playing if he’s fine. 

Freddy Sanchez: 15 for his last 24 (.625 avg); He had a nice two-strike, opposite-field double to give the Giants an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. 

Tomorrow: Jonathan Sanchez will pitch against the Rockies’ Jorge De La Rosa, who has a 4.54 ERA. The Giants should be able to win this game: the Rockies are 25-40 at home, and some Giants (Sanchez, Ross, Uribe) have good numbers against him. Sanchez is 6 for 14 against him in his career with one home run.

Jonathan Sanchez, meanwhile, has good numbers against Colorado. They bat a collective .243 against him in their careers with just one home run in 107 at-bats. Watch out for Troy Tulowitzki though: 7 for 17 lifetime with a home run vs. Sanchez. 

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