SAN FRANCISCO—Matt Cain pitched the 22nd perfect game in major league history and first for the Giants, striking out a career-high 14 and getting help from two spectacular catches to beat the Houston Astros 10-0 on Wednesday night. Cain’s 125-pitch masterpiece for San Francisco featured a pair of great plays by his corner outfielders, and he got pinch-hitter Jason Castro on a grounder to third for his 27th and final out with the sellout crowd of 42,298 roaring.
One day, a million-and-a-half people will claim to have been at AT&T Park in San Francisco on June 12, 2012. They all claim to have witnessed Matt Cain throw the first perfect game in the long history of the San Francisco Giants. Cain beat the hapless Houston Astros 10-0 (I can say “hapless,” because I’m still an Astros fan), but even with the complete domination, he needed some help from his defense. No pitchers retires all 27 batters he faces in a nine-inning game without the random stellar defensive play. That said, Cain pitched a gem, and though the Astros are really a threat only to themselves, a perfect game is still one of the rarest things in baseball. I only wish I could have seen it. I haven’t even had time to watch the highlights yet.
Giants GM Brian Sabean must be feeling like a baseball savant right about now….
