The unfortunate Mr. Cain

A few days ago, the granddaughter of a pitcher named Bob Groom e-mailed me after I mentioned him as throwing a no-hitter in 1917 against the eventual World Series-winning White Sox. She and I agreed that he seemed to be a good pitcher who was victimized by lack of run support. But he had the excuse of pitching in the Dead Ball era, when runs were at a premium.

So, what's the Giants' excuse in 2007 when it comes to Matt Cain?

The talented 22-year-old fell to 2-7 today after losing to the Red Sox and Daisuke Matsuzaka, 1-0. Cain's only mistake was a ball that Manny Ramirez cracked over the Fenway Park fence.

San Francisco, with a lineup that contains a man on the inevitable, but stalled, march toward the career home run record, can't do much of anything when the unfortunate Mr. Cain takes the mound. His earned run average (3.15) is among the best in the National League, but the Giants have scored only 12 runs in his seven losses. And that includes his 9-7 loss to Philadelphia on May 3, the only game standing between Cain and a sub-3 ERA.

One of his wins was a three-hit complete game against Arizona that the Giants managed to win 2-1. His other victory (May 19) was in the thin air of Denver, where San Francisco bats came alive to put up 15 runs. Since then, the Giants have scored only 10 times in the six games Cain has pitched.

Cain is putting up a good front about his team's lack of production, but he has to be boiling inside. Perhaps if the Giants put a few guys out on the field who weren't old enough to be Matt's father (or exceptionally older brother), they might be able to show him some offensive support.

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Trivia question 40: The Year of the Pitcher was 1968, when the 20 major-league teams then in existence posted a combined ERA of just under 3. A rookie pitcher for the New York Mets suffered considerably from the offensive drought: The Mets failed to score in any of his first four major-league starts, after which he was 0-4 with a 1.82 ERA. He finally scored his first victory with a 1-0 shutout, but finished the year at 4-7 despite a 2.28 ERA when the Mets managed just 16 runs in his 12 starts. Who was this hurler who was even more unfortunate than Mr. Cain?