Giants rout Rangers, 9-0, to take 2-0 Series lead

SAN FRANCISCO - Matt Cain is doing a pretty good Cliff Lee impression this postseason.

And in this World Series, he's unquestionably a leg up on the Rangers' ace.

Cain, who has not allowed an earned run in 211/3 innings this postseason, pitched 72/3 shutout innings last night in the Giants' 9-0 victory over the Rangers in Game 2 in front of a thunderous, orange-towel-twirling crowd of 43,622 at AT&T Park.

It was the Giants' first World Series shutout since they blanked the Yankees, 2-0, in Game 2 of the 1962 Series.

The Giants blew open the game with a seven-run eighth - an inning in which their first two batters struck out.

"There's a lot of baseball left, but it's good to win the first two," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "There's no getting around that."

The Giants, looking to bring San Francisco its first world championship, prevented the Rangers from doing what they did after a crushing loss in ALCS Game 1 against the Yankees - rebound in Game 2.

Game 3 is scheduled for tomorrow night at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas.

"The challenge is we have to go home and we have to get a win," said Rangers manager Ron Washington, who inexplicably allowed Derek Holland to stay in long enough to walk three straight batters, which forced home the first run in the seven-run eighth. "We're certainly confident when we get back to Texas we can turn this thing around."

The pitchers' duel everyone expected in Game 1, which featured Lee and Tim Lincecum, ended up coming 24 hours later - at least for seven innings.

Cain was brilliant, allowing four hits, and his counterpart, lefthander C.J. Wilson, was nearly as good.

Edgar Renteria, who as a 22-year-old won Game 7 of the 1997 World Series for the Marlins with a walk-off single in the 11th inning, broke a scoreless tie with a solo homer off Wilson with one out in the fifth, the first of his three RBIs.

Wilson came out in the seventh with a blister on his pitching hand after walking Cody Ross to start the inning. Darren Oliver replaced him and allowed a bloop RBI single by Juan Uribe that made it 2-0.

The way Cain was throwing, and has been throwing, it might as well have been 12-0.

"It's been feeling pretty good," Cain said in the understatement of the night.

"He's probably been the most consistent pitcher [for us] really from day one," Bochy said of Cain. "He's such a bulldog."

Said Giants catcher Buster Posey: "He executed his pitches. He threw them where he wanted to."

There was a little drama late. Cain walked Elvis Andrus with one out in the eighth and, after Michael Young flied out, Bochy called for lefty Javier Lopez to face Josh Hamilton, having a quiet series after hitting four homers against the Yankees in the ALCS. Hamilton flied to center, dropping to 1-for-8.

The Giants added seven runs with the two-out rally in the eighth. It began on Posey's infield single, which was followed by four consecutive walks - three by Holland - giving the Giants a 4-0 lead. Renteria followed with a two-run single off Mark Lowe. Aaron Rowand added a two-run, pinch-hit triple and Andres Torres followed with a run-scoring double.

"I didn't expect 12 balls in 13 pitches," Washington said of Holland's horror show. "But it happened."

And few expected this - the Giants, the Series underdog with an offense that was a liability much of the season, totaling 20 runs the first two games.

"We've put ourselves in a good situation," Cain said.

Another understatement.