Thanks mainly to Matt Cain's excellent pitches, the San Francisco Giants demolished the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0 on Tuesday and took a 2-1 lead in the National League championship series.
Cody Ross was also at hand to steer his team to victory when that seemed impossible at a time when the game was stuck at a critical juncture in the fourth inning. The outfielder hit an RBI single in the inning that resulted in a tie-breaker – which was actually 0-0 – and got his team 1-0 lead. His performance was emulated by playoff first-timer Aubrey Huff who hit a run-scoring single and sealed the deal for the Giants.
Cain was able to confine the Phillies to two hits over seven innings, striking out five in the process and throwing 119 pitches while walking three. This was the first win for Cain who got a no-decision against the Atlanta Braves during his NL division start. The pitcher also won for the first time against Philadelphia, as his previous statistics against the team were 0-3 with a 6.23 earned-run average in five starts.
Cole Hamels of the Phillies remained overpowered by the Giants though he managed to strike out eight, three runs and five hits over six innings notwithstanding. Joe Blanton is expected to replace star player Roy Halladay in Game 4 on Wednesday; he has 4.82 ERA in the regular season.
Despite excellent and record-breaking performances in the start, the Phillies are in trouble as they are down 1-2 in the best of seven series.
