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The Weekend Takeaway
The ghost of the 2010 Giants was resurrected on Saturday when Matt Cain delivered his first win of 2016. Yes, yes, the baseball-god-defying Giants did lay claim to championship titles in 2012 and 2014, but the last time Cain’s cFIP dipped under 100 in a winning Giants season, he was headlining the rotation with Tim Lincecum and sporting a career-high 6.1 WARP while the club marched to their its World Series in San Francisco.

Against the visiting Cubs, Cain pitched into and out of jams, allowing a pair of baserunners in each of the first three innings and surrendering a solo shot to Kris Bryant on a high slider veering just outside the zone:

By the fourth inning, Cain settled into a groove, retiring eight of nine batters and capping his outing by striking out the side in the sixth. His modus operandi, a four-seamer that touched 93 mph and induced seven groundballs, reared its head 58 times in the right-hander’s first official win since July 22, 2015.

With runners on, Cain used a mix of his fastball and curveball to prevent the Cubs from gaining any significant advantage, occasionally drawing on his slider and changeup to get a few whiffs deep into the count. Even more helpful was his own contribution to the Giants’ five-run output: a two-RBI double off of Jon Lester’s knee-high fastball:

While the Giants’ pitchers have made something of a name for themselves when it comes to hot-hitting pitchers, this was Cain’s first extra-base hit since July 21, 2012, and his first hit of any flavor since 2014. Buster Posey followed the double with a monster home run, his fifth of the year, and after the bullpen allowed the Cubs to creep within three runs of a win, the Giants staked their 26th victory of the season.

After a brutal start to his season, Cain has now pitched three strong starts in a row, allowing four runs in total and striking out 17 while walking just four batters—against Toronto, in Arizona, and against these loaded Cubs, no less. Don’t call it a comeback quite yet—he's still struggling to crack 91 mph, down from his old-days velo around 93—but this just might be the Matt Cain the Giants have been missing.

Quick Hits from the Weekend
It’s not unusual for managers to handle their rehabbing starters with kid gloves, but Red Sox right-hander Joe Kelly didn’t appear to warrant any special treatment in his first start since landing on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder impingement. Kelly marked his return with 6 â…” innings of no-hit pitching, losing the bid in the seventh when Juan Uribe parked a first-pitch fastball in center field for a double.

The Indians couldn’t make heads nor tails of Kelly, striking out seven times and leaving three baserunners stranded on a handful of walks. In the fifth, with the bases loaded and two outs, Indians’ backstop Chris Gimenez bounced a slider back to Kelly, who scooped and threw it home just a step ahead of Carlos Santana to end the inning and preserve the no-hit attempt.

Kelly regained his control to keep the bases clear until the seventh, striking out six of seven batters on his four-seamer thanks to an impeccable command of the strike zone. He was economical with his pitches, utilizing a slider-curveball combo only when hitters like Mike Napoli and Juan Uribe worked deeper counts against him.

While Kelly made six scoreless frames look effortless, the Red Sox piled on plenty of run support, from Jackie Bradley Jr.’s infield single (stretching his hitting streak to 26 games, a streak he extended on Sunday with yet another base hit)

to a Mookie Betts’ grand slam.

***

Noah Syndergaard’s Asgardian locks aren’t the only thing working for him these days. On Sunday, the 23-year-old right-hander tossed seven innings of one-run ball against the Brewers, hammering the strike zone to fan 11 batters during the Mets’ 3-1 rout.

From the get-go, the Brewers were up against some of Syndergaard’s most potent pitches. In the first inning, leadoff batter Jonathan Villar worked a 2-2 count before grounding out to first. Here’s the reading on that final pitch from Brooks Baseball:

Syndergaard touched 100 mph again in the second inning with his sinker, but the heat only comprised half of his power. His strikeouts arrived in every shape and speed, from a low, 99 m.p.h. fastball to a slow curveball scraping the edge of the zone.

While Syndergaard averaged 99 with his fastball, he coupled his command with pristine control, extending his streak to 19 innings without a walk. Of course, small sample sizes rarely play out well in the long run, and it’s no surprise that PECOTA expects a spike in the righty’s walk rate by season’s end. Through 60 â…” innings in 2016, however, he’s maintaining a 1.5 BB/9, just a tick down from the 1.9 rate he kept in his first major league season. Pair that with his 2.29 DRA and 1.8 WARP, and you have the makings of one of the National League’s finest pitchers.

There are incredible, if isolated, performances—say, a Philip Humber perfecto or a Bartolo Colon home run—and there are performances indicative of consistent greatness. This is the latter.

Defensive Play of the Weekend
Extraordinarily flexible shortstop Francisco Lindor or Cirque du Soleil contortionist?

My money’s on the circus.

What to Watch on Monday
Whether your taste runs toward the complete game shutout or a 14-strikeout whizzbanger, it’s never a bad day when Clayton Kershaw takes the mound. He’s carrying a streak of six games with double-digit strikeouts and hasn’t given up more than two runs (or a loss) since his last meeting with the Marlins on April 26. His 1.67 DRA is the lowest in the majors. His 2.8 WARP is the highest in the majors. His 44 cFIP is the best in the majors. Why am I even trying to sell you on Kershaw?

Opposite the Dodgers’ ace are the Reds, who sport the highest team ERA in the majors, at 6.07. They’re coming off of a seven-game losing streak to the Indians and Mariners, thanks in part to a beleaguered and worn-down rotation and an equally ineffective bullpen. On Saturday, the Reds called up three pitching prospects to relieve Jumbo Diaz, Keyvius Sampson, and Steve Delabar in the ‘pen. Despite a clean inning of work from rookie right-hander Dayan Diaz, the club still took a loss to the Mariners on Sunday after Seattle pegged starter Alfredo Simon for five runs. They’ll have to debut the rest of their new arsenal against the Dodgers if they can’t turn things around quickly enough (10:10 ET).

Thank you for reading

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GBSimons
5/23
Ichiro is 44 hits from 3000, isn't he? Both BP and Baseball Reference have him at 2956.
lyricalkiller
5/23
Thank you, yes. That paragraph has been deleted.