Cain Isn't Perfect But Wins Again Against Angels
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Angels began the night hoping Jerome Williams could add to their string of back-to-back shutout wins.
They left a disappointing loss to the San Francisco Giants simply hoping Williams would feel better after an overnight stay in the hospital.
Matt Cain followed up his perfect game by persevering through five difficult innings, and Brandon Crawford had an early two-run double among the Giants' 13 hits in a 5-3 victory over Los Angeles on Monday night.
Williams (6-5) gave up seven hits and four runs while failing to get out of the fourth inning in his third straight loss for the Angels — and his second straight defeat at Angel Stadium after going 8-0 in his first eight home starts with Los Angeles.
Shortly after Williams left the game, the former Giants first-round pick was taken to a hospital as a precaution after complaining of shortness of breath. Angels outfielder Torii Hunter said Williams "passed out" in the locker room, but the club didn't confirm it, with manager Mike Scioscia saying only Williams is "resting comfortably" and is expected to stay overnight.
"It's tough when your teammate, your brother, is going through some things," Hunter said. "I mean, you try to focus in on the game, but at the same time you're thinking about your brother in between pitches. They say he's going to be OK, and hopefully we'll see him (Tuesday)."
Williams improbably revitalized his career with Los Angeles late last season, but has yielded 16 runs in his last three starts after a strong start to the year.
"They're going to run some tests and see what they can find," Scioscia said. "I think he's feeling much better right now than he did when he left, but obviously, we're just taking it one step at a time. Hopefully it's not going to be anything serious."
Mark Trumbo hit his 16th homer and Mike Trout stole three bases to take over the AL lead for the Angels, who had won seven of nine interleague games over the previous two weeks. Los Angeles moved a season-high five games over .500 with back-to-back shutout victories over Arizona on the weekend, but its streak of consecutive scoreless innings ended at 22 on Crawford's second-inning double.
Williams didn't help his case to stay in the Angels' rotation after Wednesday's return of ace Jered Weaver, who has been out since May 28 with lower-back pain. Rookie Garrett Richards has been outstanding in three starts in Weaver's place, culminating in eight innings of four-hit ball in a shutout victory over Arizona on Sunday.
"It's very exciting," Weaver said. "It feels like it's been three months instead of a little over 15 days. It's been a tough one to swallow. I've worked real hard on getting that thing taken care of, and the training staff has done a great job to get me back."
Ryan Theriot had three hits and drove in two runs for the Giants, who rewarded Cain (9-2) for his resilience in his first start since throwing the 22nd perfect game in major league history against Houston last Wednesday.
"It was definitely a grind-it-out day," said Cain, the first Giants starter since 1989 to win eight consecutive starts. "I was having to work. You've still got some energy, probably, from (the perfect game), but I was mostly worrying about making pitches."
Cain gave up a hit on his third pitch at Angel Stadium to Trout, eventually allowing three runs on six hits and a season-high four walks. He also got hit on his left wrist by a comebacker from Trout in the fourth, but he recovered the ball and threw out a Los Angeles runner at the plate.
Four Giants relievers combined on four hitless innings, with Santiago Casilla finishing up for his 19th save in 20 chances. Counting Cain's fifth inning, the Angels' final 15 hitters failed to reach base.
Melky Cabrera had three more hits to push his major league-leading total to 98, and Angel Pagan had a run-scoring single in the Giants' first game at Angel Stadium since they lost the final two games of the 2002 World Series in heart-wrenching fashion.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.)
