The series was dismal to say the least. Monday night was Cain’s first outing after pitching the 22nd perfect game in MLB history. It wasn’t extraordinary, with Cain allowing runs in the first, second and fourth innings, but it got the job done. The Giants helped him out by getting 13 hits and scoring 5 run, 4 of which came off of former Giants Jerome Williams.
For those of you who don’t remember Williams, he was the Giants first round draft pick in 1999. He made his way into the Giants rotation in 2003, and put up solid numbers until his trade in 2005. Still not ringing any bells? He wore a puka shell necklace. If that doesn’t jog your memory he must not have left much of an impression. He made quite the impression on me at the time, and a puka shell necklace became a staple in my everyday attire (along with a Giants t-shirt and zip-off cargo pants, so needless to say it wasn’t just a fashion statement). When he took the mound on Monday night, the remains of my 11-year old self hoped he wouldn’t embarrass himself too badly against Cain.
3 innings, 7 hits, and 4 earned runs later he was out of the game. Oh well. The rest of the game belonged to the bullpen, and by the end of the 5th Cain had departed as well. The Giants bullpen preserved the win for Cain, his 8th in a row. That was the peak of excitement for the Giants’ in the 3 game series.
Tuesday night brought back a side of Zito we all hoped he had left behind this season. Though the Giants got 13 hits for the second night in a row, it wasn’t enough to help dig them out of the 8 runs Zito let the Angels stack up in his 3.1 innings. The bullpen allowed another 4 runs on the way to a 12-5 loss.
The scales seemed to be skewed in favor of the Giants’ in Wednesday nights match up, with Vogelsong not having lost a road start since August, and Angels starting pitcher Jered Weaver returning from a stint on the DL with a back injury, and on a strict 85-pitch limit. Weaver came back strong, holding the Giants to 2 runs in his 6 innings pitched on the way to a 6-0 shutout. Dismal.
Despite the fact that the series didn’t go quite as I’d hoped, I still consider myself lucky to have gotten to go to all 3 games. As an accidental SoCal resident (by default of the college I attend), I pass by Angel Stadium at least once a week, never having a reason to actually go to the park (my love of the game doesn’t quite outweigh my remaining 2002 grudge). Interleague play gave me a reason, and I wasn’t the only one. Maybe they just came to see Cain pitch, but the Giants supporters were out in full effect on Monday night. “Let’s go Giants” chants overpowered the Angels’ cheers by a long shot, and orange and black could be seen throughout the stadium. Giants fans were there, and they wanted everyone to know it. That’s the way it ought to be, and with the Giants returning to the Bay to play 3 games in Oakland this weekend, that’s the way it ought to stay. Get out there and represent Giants fans. Do it for the Gmen.
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