The Philadelphia Phillies were in town this week, and that meant some truly epic pitching matchups. The Phillies are one of the other premiere teams in baseball, probably the highest payroll in the National League, and like the Giants, they spent a big chunk of that money on pitching. The Giants faced the Phillies in the NLCS in 2010, and squeezed out a victory against a truly wicked pitching staff. But immediately after the World Series, the Phillies went out and picked up one of the best pitchers in the American League, Texas Rangers' ace, Cliff Lee.
Of course, the Giants had just finished beating Cliff Lee in the World Series, so this made the Phillies' starting rotation the most fearsome in baseball -- with the possible exception of the Giants' starters, natch.
So last night was an epic pitchers' duel: Cliff Lee vs. Matt Cain for the Giants. Cain just two weeks ago became the highest-paid right-handed pitcher in baseball, getting a deal that will lock him up through 2017 and pay him $127 million. And deservedly so. On Friday, Cain pitched a one-hit shutout complete game at the home opener. He's at the top of his game, and it was always a good game.
Last night, Cain pitched a nine-inning two hitter, and Cliff Lee pitched a ten-inning four-hitter -- shutout baseball that went into extra innings and finally ended with a Melky Cabrera walkoff single in the 11th against the bullpen.
Crazy. An 11-inning game that was over in two and a half hours. And the losing pitcher? The guy who was on the mound when we finally got a run? That guy's name is "Bastardo". No foolin'.
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