The Giants are becoming an exciting team, thanks in part to two areas of the game where they have been weak in recent years.
They are accumulating a lot more steals by their baserunners and a lot more strikeouts by their pitchers. Those things thrill fans, and the Giants are a lot better at it now than during the Barry Bonds era. They entered play Monday second in the National League in strikeouts and fourth in steals.
Their five-game winning streak ended with a 4-2 loss to the Rockies in the opener of a three-game series. They didn't steal a base, but they reached the 1,000-strikeout plateau for the 12th time in franchise history.
Matt Cain's second strikeout was the club's 1,000th, and the franchise record of 1,089 is in reach.
Cain didn't have a big strikeout night. He fanned four batters in six innings, and the bullpen added three strikeouts to the total.
ROCKIES 4, GIANTS 2: The Giants scored two runs in the first inning, and that was it. Matt Cain lasted six innings and took the loss, giving up three runs and ruining his chance to get to the .500 mark. He's 8-10. He gave up a two-run homer to ex-Giant Yorvit Torrealba and an RBI triple to Troy Tulowitzki, and the Giants did little against Jeff Francis and two relievers.
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