Perfect game today, US Open tomorrow. A good sports week in SF.

In fact, I don't think Pablo would have made it, but considering the circumstances and the difficulty, Blanco's catch will go down as one of the greatest in Giants history.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=22275319&topic_id=11493214

Matt Cain is most deserving of achieving the distinction of pitching the first ever Giants perfect game. He's all Giant.

After the game Kuiper said a perfect game was a team accomplishment..certainly true last night.

5 no hitters already this year. 2 perfect games.

I think they should only count American League no hitters because it's harder to do with a DH.

Because that is where baseball is played.

And what's boring about no-hitters and perfect games? Were Sandy Koufax or Nolan Ryan not players who could thrill fans?

Flurry of no-hitters and perfect games reflect changes in baseball
Tom Verducci SI.com

Is the no-hitter becoming so common that it's losing its luster? Over the past three seasons, no-hitters are about as common as your cable bill: they come almost once a month. The perfect game by Matt Cain Wednesday in San Francisco was the 14th no-hitter in the past 2 1/3 seasons.

Back at the start of May, when Jered Weaver threw the second no-hitter of this season, I wrote, "At the rate we're going these past three years, you can expect three or four more no-hitters before the season is over." I didn't expect we would get three more just within a 13-day span this month.

This seems crazy, but it's actually nothing we haven't seen before. You just have to go all the way back to the late 1960s, when hitting was so bad they had to make two huge rules changes: they lowered the mound (1969) and added the designated hitter (1973). It is tougher to get a hit in the major leagues this season (.253) than any season since 1972 (.244), the last year without a DH.

How much more common have no-hitters become in the past three years? This quick look at the rate of no-hitters in the Modern Era will give you an idea:

1901-2009: 1 every 794 games

2010-2012: 1 every 414 games

The rest at: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/tom_verducci/06/14/no.hitter.craze/index.html

The long answer is that a baseball game that uses the DH is an obvious oxymoron, so further use of the DH is not a cure for anything wrong with baseball. It is the death of baseball.

Mr. Verducci makes some curious statements in his arguments. First of all, I didn't know that hitting in the late 1960s was "so bad." This was an era that featured Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente. They were at least as good as anything since, to include Reggie Jackson, Jose Canseco and Manny Ramirez. Oh, yes, and Barry Bonds.

Second, since the DH has been used in the American League since 1973, it would seem that the use of DH has little or no effect on Mr. Verducci perceived decline of hitting in recent years. In fact, given that the DH only modestly increases run production, it has had very little effect on the offensive side of the game. It the only real thing use of the DH has accomplished is the dumming down of the game.

Maybe the real cause of this perceived phenomenon is that juiced up hitters are out of the game by now. However, Mr. Verducci says:

Amphetamines ban is a possible reason for the rise of no-hitters/perfect games. Position players are more fatigued day-to-day when the amphetamines would wake them up while the pitchers are more rested.

and it ain't Timmeh.

Cain is Able!

If I remember right, Humber and Johan Santana both followed up their performances with clunkers. Weaver had a decent game after his, but then was awful in his next start after that. If I remember right, after Buehrle followed up his PG with a series of bad outings in '09, but Halliday was good after his PG in '10. I don't recall what Dallas Braden did after his PG in '10.

I guess we'll find out tonight.

one that may have spent more time scouting him too.