Perfect Day – Lou Reed
Perfect Lovesong – The Divine Comedy
My friend Ben wanted to see a game this week, so we talked about the Wednesday night one or the Thursday afternoon one. The Thursday one had the advantage of being unlikely to freeze us to death. But then he said, ‘rotation looks like it puts Cain on Wednesday night. I’d rather see him than Zito.’ Talk about good calls.
We got 5 buck tickets on Stubhub, grabbed some burritos in the Mission, and made our way over. Caroline and one of her friends met us there and we settled in for the game. About five minutes before the game started Ben predicted a 15 strikeout game. When Cain struck out 5 of the first 9 batters, I told him we were on pace. And in the back of my mind I thought ‘9 up, 9 down, and he’s dealing…’
By the fifth inning we started to give each other knowing glances. And we had serious difficulty trying to explain the magnitude of the situation to Caroline and her friend without violating the code of silence about such events. She got that he hadn’t allowed any hits, but didn’t really understand that this was actually far more impressive than just that.
We were really starting to worry about his pitch count. The Astros had fouled off a lot of balls, and those strikeouts really add up. So we started to speculate about a 130/140 pitch game.
In the sixth inning, the Giants were already up like 15-0 so they started subbing in defensive players. Cain struck out Bogusevic for his 10th K. Then Snyder gave the ball a serious ride out to left. From our vantage point, it looked like a HR. But no, the catch was made right at the wall! And Cain struck out some guy I’d never heard of for his 11th K to end the inning.
The seventh inning led off with that magnificent catch by Gregor Blanco. Full stretch, laid out in deep right-center. From our perspective way on the other side of the field, it looked like the ball was jarred loose when he landed, so when the ump raised his right fist we went totally bonkers. Then Cain got two more Ks and that was that.
The Giants halves of these innings were torture. People clearly still wanted to support the team, but given the massive lead, there was really no doubt about the win. So we really just wanted Cain back out there. It seemed like the Giants hitters were on board with this, as they started swinging at most anything close.
At this point, Caroline said something to the effect of: “Is this what it’s like to actually care about sports? I never really understood.”
In the 8th, Cain seemed totally pumped with adrenaline, overthrew a few pitches, and looked like he was in danger of giving up a walk or even hitting a guy. Never really seemed like the Astros would get a hit, though. When he went to three balls on Brett Wallace, my heart was pounding. After my teams having some very unpleasant losses to the other Brett Wallace, I wanted no part of THIS one ruining the perfect game. Fortunately, Cain rung him up on a full count pitch.
Up until that point I was incredibly nervous. When he came out for the 9th, though, I started to get a lot more calm. Given the quality of the hitters and Cain, it was more likely than not that he’d get them. And it just seemed clear it was going to happen. They hit a couple of weak fly balls to left, which was directly below us. Caroline was freaking out, but these were routine plays and were put away easily. Then, for the final out, it was a weak roller to third base. Fortunately, they had subbed out Sandoval. Arias double-clutched, but then made a strong throw. And it was over. Pandemonium. Jumping up and down. Screaming. Hugging.
I’ve never been to a playoff game, but the atmosphere at this one felt like game 7 of the World Series. On a 1-1 count in the 7th inning, a close pitch would get called a ball and the boos echoed around the stadium. People were standing and cheering for just about every 2-strike pitch from the 6th inning onward. Strangers were looking at each other and saying ‘can you believe this is happening?’ Someone near us tried to get up to go to the bathroom in like the 8th inning and their friends yelled at them to hold it.
I’m still sort of in awe. Tied for the most strikeouts ever in a perfect game. Second-best nine-inning game score in major league history (trailing only the Wood game). Of the tens of thousands of games in history, this was probably one of the 4 or 5 most dominant pitching performances. And I was there. On a five dollar ticket purchased on a whim a couple days ago.
I love baseball. And I’ll be a huge Matt Cain fan for the rest of my life.