By: Joe Lami

USA Today file photo: San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—Tuesday was a promising night for Giants’ pitcher Matt Cain. The one-time perfect pitcher sported his best outing in recent memory and bounced back exponentially from his last start in which he gave up eight runs on ten hits in just four innings of work.

“I could tell it was going to be a good night in the bullpen, he was really crisp in the pen,” commented catcher, Buster Posey.

Even though Cain earned his fifth loss of the season in the 4-0 defeat to the Blue Jays, it gives San Francisco fans something to look forward to. He finished after eight innings of work, giving up two runs on six hits. He also got his season-high in strikeouts with seven.

“He looked very determined, and it was big that he could get through that first inning and get settled in. He then had a good rhythm going and he was locked in and just got his normal rhythm,” said manager Bruce Bochy.

The eight innings of work marked his longest outing since August 1, 2013, in which the right-hander also finished with eight. Cain was keeping the ball down for the most part, and that was the biggest difference maker. “He threw the ball great today. He was down in the zone the most I’ve seen him this year. Had a great breaking ball going, fastball had good carry through the zone. Hate to spoil this one for all of us and for him too,” added Posey.

There were a few exceptions of course with the biggest coming in the second inning, as Troy Tulowitzki launched his sixth home run of the season to left. Tulo also earned the second run of the game off a sac fly in the seventh.

Unfortunately for Cain, he remains winless in his last 14 starts. The Giants record when Cain is on the mound is 2-12 since July 22 of last year. However, things could be looking up for the 31 year old as he looked like classic Matt Cain, right down to the poor run support. As Tuesday, marked the 49th time in his 298 career starts in which he saw zero runs of support.

“The way he threw the ball and maintained his stuff eight solid innings, it’s a shame we couldn’t get him some runs,” Bochy added.

The biggest thing for Cain is to follow up his excellent performance and get back on track. Tuesday night’s game was his best since his first outing of the year against the Dodgers, in which he gave up two runs on six hits in six innings. However, Cain wasn’t able to follow that one up his next time out, pitching only 4.2 innings in an 11-6 loss.

Cain’s next scheduled start is slated for Sunday in Arizona, a team the Giants haven’t beat yet this season.