All my life as a baseball fan I dreamed of seeing a no-hitter. I've had a lot of close calls -- 8 2/3 innings from Scott Garrelts at a game I was at in 1990, 8 from Trevor Wilson, and several close calls by Matt Cain -- but never seen one. In that time, I've seen the Giants no-hit 5 times (three straight by guys named Kevin -- Gross, Brown, and Millwood). When the Giants signed Randy Johnson, I briefly considered the possibility he could be the one to break the streak, before writing it off due to his age and injury limitations. Today, he made me reconsider that dismissal.
The Unit went 6 no-hit innings before allowing a hit, and completed 7 innings in just 73 pitches. He was dominating and efficient, a rare at all, but especially so on the Giants notoriously wild staff. If he'd still had the no-no, he could've gone the route, and I still wonder why Bruce Bochy pulled him with such a low pitch count. No matter, though, as the struggling Bob Howry threw a perfect 8th inning, and Brian Wilson tossed a dominating 1-2-3 9th with 2 K's.
The pitching is in full domination mode right now, the last three starts all fantastic, but you must factor in the opponent. The D-Backs have had as much trouble scoring runs as the Giants, which showed itself this weekend: Each game resulted in a shutout, all decided by identical 2-0 scores. Six runs total.
Though they scored twice what the D-Backs did, the Giants were almost more inept, consistently leaving men at 3rd with less than 2 out. This has been an especially trait, seeing how the team doesn't hit for power and thus must rely on the little things. Still, a win is a win. And the Giants can use all of those they can get right now. And a 1-hit shoutout to preserve a series win
TOMORROW: Off-day. The Giants will look to avenge their sweep at the hands of the Padres on Tuesday when they visit San Francisco. Matt Cain will take the hill, and with his luck, he'll probably be facing Jake Peavy.
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