June 13, 2012: Matt Cain pitches first perfect game in Giants history

In 2012 San Francisco Giants right-hander Matt Cain had a reputation as a hard-luck pitcher. It was well deserved: From his debut in 2005 through the 2011 season, Cain had the lowest run support in major-league baseball.1   

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Henry Schulman wrote: “He actually entered the baseball lexicon. To be ‘Cained’ is to throw lights-out but lose a 1-0 or 2-1 game.”2

Cain pitched at least 200 innings each year from 2007 through 2011, and in the last three of those seasons, he had ERAs under 3.15. He pitched 21⅓ innings without giving up an earned run in the 2010 postseason, in which the Giants won their first World Series since 1954.3

On June 13, 2012, the Giants hosted the Houston Astros in the second game of a three-game series. Cain, the starting pitcher, arrived at AT&T Park early for his pregame routine.

A few hours before game time, Cain joined pro golfer Dustin Johnson and drove a golf ball from a tee at home plate over the right-field wall into McCovey Cove in San Francisco Bay.4

“He smoked one,” said Giants play-by-play broadcaster Duane Kuiper. “I don’t think he hit as far as Johnson, but he hit it as far as most guys on the Tour.”5

Before the start of the game, a guy with a jet pack hovered over McCovey Cove.6  

Was this just another quirky day in San Francisco, or were the pregame activities a harbinger of something special to come?

Cain had thrown a complete-game one-hitter in the Giants’ home opener7 and won his last six consecutive decisions. His record was 7-2 with an ERA of 2.41.8

A sellout crowd cheered as Cain and the Giants took the field. San Francisco was in second place in the National League West Division, 4½ games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. Houston, headed for its second of three straight seasons with at least 106 losses, was fifth in the NL Central.9

The first two batters, Jordan Schafer and Jose Altuve, both struck out swinging; Altuve’s punchout was on three straight pitches, then Jed Lowrie fouled out.

In the bottom of the first inning, Astros starter J.A. Happ yielded a single to Ryan Theriot. Melky Cabrera, leading the NL with a .366 batting average, followed by launching a homer to deep left-center. Giants 2, Astros 0.

In the bottom of the second, Pablo Sandoval got a leadoff single. The next batter, Brandon Belt, smacked a home run to center. Right after Belt’s homer, Joaquín Árias doubled. Cain’s sacrifice advanced Árias to third. Then Grégor Blanco grounded out to first and Árias scored, making it a 5-0 game.

The Giants added two more runs in the third on RBI singles by Sandoval and Belt. They scored again in the fourth when Sandoval hit into a force at second with the bases loaded.

It was 8-0 when Cain led off the fifth with a broken-bat single off reliever Rhiner Cruz. The next batter, Blanco, belted a home run to right. San Francisco had an imposing 10-0 lead.

Through five innings Cain had dispatched all 15 Astros batters. He had nine strikeouts, three groundouts, and two foul outs. In the fourth, Jordan Schafer ripped a pitch very hard down the first-base line past Belt. It was called foul, and Cain ended the 10-pitch at-bat with a strikeout. Only two balls had been hit to the outfield.

As the game progressed, fans, broadcasters, and players began to contemplate the possibility of a no-hitter or even a perfect game.10

“I know in other games where I carried a no-hitter or if I carried a shutout or whatnot into the later innings, I could just feel it just building up inside of me,” said Cain. “But that night, for some reason, that wasn’t there. I was just totally a part of it, enjoying it, having fun with it.”11

Cain may have felt this way because catcher Buster Posey was pitch-calling brilliantly.12

“I can’t thank Buster enough. I didn’t even question once what he was calling,” said Cain.13 “I never shook him off.”14

In the sixth, left fielder Cabrera made an excellent running catch at the wall of a ball hit deep by the Astros’ Chris Snyder15 and influenced by the San Francisco Bay wind.

 “I had the best view, I guess,” Giants center fielder Ángel Pagán said. “That ball went out. It was out. That ball was 10 rows out. It was something I’ve never seen before … There’s a lot of wind going on in this ballpark.”16

To protect Cain’s masterpiece-in-the-making, manager Bruce Bochy made late-inning defensive adjustments, including installing Brandon Crawford at shortstop in the seventh and moving Árias to third.17

Ten years later, Crawford said, “It was the most nervous I’ve ever been in a game.”18

At the start of the seventh, right fielder Blanco made a spectacular diving catch in right-center field on a ball hit by Schafer, sliding on his belly across the warning track. 

As the crowd erupted, Cain threw up both hands up in triumph. He tipped his cap to Blanco and then went right back at it, striking out Altuve.19

 “Every time that people recognize me, that I played for the Giants, everyone just reminds me, ‘You’re the one who made that catch. You saved Matt Cain’s perfect game,” Blanco recalled in 2022.20

Cain navigated the eighth with no close calls. In the ninth, Cabrera caught fly balls for the first two outs. The 27th Astros batter was pinch-hitter Jason Castro. With a 1-and-2 count, Cain took a moment and scanned the crowd, looking at the upper deck, taking it all in.21 Then Cain threw his final pitch of the game.

“I let loose and I grunted and … he hit it and I’m like, Nooo,’” said Cain.22  

Castro sent a grounder to third; it took an unusual hop. Árias moved to his right, gloving the ball. He shuffled slightly and threw a bullet to Belt at first base for the final out.

Posey raced to the mound and hugged Cain. Belt slipped the ball in his back pocket for safekeeping and ran to the mound. They were quickly joined by the rest of the Giants.23

The crowd, many of whom had been standing for the past three innings, roared fervently.24

The Astros had been “Cained” in a new and different way.

Cain: “It felt like the World Series, but it almost felt a little bit louder, a little crazier. Every strike [the spectators] were going nuts. It was really amazing. I’ve never had that much excitement, every pitch, every strike, every swing.”25

Giants’ mascot Lou Seal paraded around the field holding up a “Perfect” sign.

The celebration continued. When the fans finally filed out of the ballpark, strangers continued to high-five each other and some ushers high-fived every customer as they went through the exits.26   

“It was just so exhilarating, sharing this with them,” said Cain, the longest tenured Giant in 2012. “My emotions … just unspeakable right now. I was locked in with that crowd all night.”27

Giants President Larry Baer reflected on Cain: “He’s the perfect person to throw the [Giants’] first perfect game. He’s the heart and soul of this clubhouse.”28

Eleven of Cain’s 14 strikeouts were finished with fastballs, two were changeups, and one was a curveball. Cain’s velocity increased as the game progressed. In the ninth, he didn’t throw a fastball less than 91 mph. Cain never had a 2-0 count29 and threw first-pitch strikes to 19 of the 27 batters. He retired 19 of 27 batters while ahead in the count, including 11 of his 14 strikeouts.30 Of the 125 pitches he threw, 86 were for strikes.

Cain’s strikeout total eclipsed his previous personal best of 12, set in 2006. He tied Sandy Koufax (1965) for the most strikeouts in a perfect game.31

Based on Bill James’s game score measure of pitching dominance, Cain’s game adds up to 101 points, equaling the highest recorded for a perfect game. Koufax’s 1965 perfecto for the Dodgers was the only other perfect game with a score of 101 as of the summer of 2024.32

It seems fitting that the two most dominant perfect games were thrown by a Dodger and a Giant, reinforcing the storied rivalry between these teams.

This was Cain’s night, but perfect games don’t happen without contributions from other players. Cabrera, Blanco, Posey, and other Giants rose to the occasion with brilliant defense.

In keeping with his durable, hard-working reputation, it also seems fitting that Cain contributed offensively in two of his plate appearances, becoming the first pitcher to score a run in his own perfect game,33 and threw the most pitches ever in a perfect game (125).

Cain’s teammates stepped up with 10 runs on 15 hits, including three two-run homers. It seems especially fitting after seven grueling seasons in which Cain received the least run support in the majors, on this night he got the most run support in the history of perfect games.34  

It all fit together.

Perfectly.

Author’s Note   

Amazingly, during the game, Cain was aware he was throwing a no-hitter, but not a perfect game. He said it finally dawned on him after the game when Giants broadcaster Amy Gutierrez congratulated him on the perfecto.35 Cain did look visibly surprised when that happened. Later, Bochy said, “The fact that he didn’t know about it probably worked to his advantage.”36

In 2012 three perfect games were thrown in the majors, the most in a single season, by Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox on April 21, Cain on June 13, and the Seattle Mariners’ Félix Hernández on August 15. Cain’s was the 22nd perfect game in National/American League history.37

Less than two months after Cain’s perfect game, a plaque commemorating the event was installed on a walkway along McCovey Cove outside of the Giants’ ballpark.38 

My favorite fact about Cain: At age five, he was competitive enough – and perceptive enough – to complete three unassisted triple plays in T-ball.39

Acknowledgments

The author thanks John Fredland, Kurt Blumenau, and Gary Belleville for their assistance. This article was fact-checked by Kurt Blumenau and copy-edited by Len Levin.     

Sources and Photo Credits

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, MLB.com, and SABR.org for general player, team, game, and season data. The author also rewatched Cain’s perfect game in its entirety on YouTube.

Image of baseball card “2013 Topps Heritage – Memorable Moments # MM-MCA – Matt Cain” downloaded from the Trading Card Database.

The “Perfect” plaque image was photographed by the author on June 27, 2024. 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN201206130.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2012/B06130SFN2012.htm

Notes

1 Tyler Kepner, “Good Things Finally Start Happening for a Pitcher Who’s Had It Hard,” New York Times, June 20, 2012: B14.

2 Henry Schulman, “Perfectly Unique,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 14, 2012: B1.

3 Chris Haft, “Praising Cain! Giant Perfect Game a Gem,” MLB.com, June 13, 2012, https://www.mlb.com/news/giants-matt-cain-tosses-perfect-game-vs-astros-c33250032.

4 McCovey Cove is a portion of San Francisco Bay named for Giants first baseman and Hall of Famer Willie McCovey. Golf’s US Open was set to start the next day in San Francisco. As a promotional event, Giants pitcher Clay Hensley, former Giants first baseman J.T. Snow and pro golfer Dustin Johnson were hitting drives from home plate over the right-field wall into McCovey Cove. Cain, an enthusiastic golfer, begged manager Bruce Bochy and Giants general manager Brian Sabean to allow him to hit a drive. Sabean seemed reluctant, and may have been concerned that his $127.5 million pitcher would injure himself, but he OK’d one swing. Johnson was also there to throw the ceremonial first pitch at the game that evening.

5 Marcus White, “Why Matt Cain’s Perfect Game Is ‘North Star’ of 2010s Giants Dynasty,” nbssportsbayarea.com, March 15, 2020, https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/mlb/why-matt-cains-perfect-game-is-north-star-of-2010s-giants-dynasty/1305306/.

6 “Video: Matt Cain Drives Golf Ball into McCovey Cove,” nbcbayarea.com, June 14, 2012, https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/video-matt-cain-drives-golf-ball-into-mccovey-cove-before-game/1918308/.

7 At the Giants’ 2012 home opener against Pittsburgh on April 13, Cain pitched a complete-game one-hitter facing just 28 batters. He allowed only one baserunner on a single to Pirates pitcher James McDonald in the sixth inning. If Cain hadn’t given up this hit, he could have been the first pitcher to throw two perfect games – and both of them in the same season.

8 Cain was on a roll, but the Giants’ offense was experiencing a power deficit at AT&T Park. Before the series with the Astros, the Giants hadn’t had a home run in their previous 16 home games and had only six homers in 32 home games during the 2012 season.

9 The Astros moved to the American League for the 2013 season.

10 Alex Pavlovic, “Cain, Giants Teammates Relive Best Moments from His Perfect Game,” nbcsportsbayarea,com, June 13, 2022, https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/mlb/san-francisco-giants/cain-giants-teammates-relive-best-moments-from-his-perfect-game/1419012/.

11 Steve Kroner, “Decade after Matt Cain’s Perfect Game, Giants Recall the Nerves, the Catch, the Glory,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 12, 2022,  https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/giants/article/matt-cain-perfect-game-17234301.php.

12 Posey was playing in just his 216th major-league game. The average number of games caught by catchers who called perfect games is 624.

13 Zachary Levine, “On the Astros – Giants 10, Astros 0 – 27 Up, 27 Down: Cain’s Perfection Includes 14 Strikeouts, Key Catch,” Houston Chronicle, June 14, 2012: 1.

14 “The Untold Story: Matt Cain’s Perfect Game,” San Francisco Giants YouTube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTNyk1oklQA, accessed May 26, 2024.

15 Backup catcher Snyder was filling in for everyday catcher Jason Castro, who had a scheduled rest day.

16 Haft, “Praising Cain! Giant Perfect Game a Gem.”

17 Third baseman Sandoval, just off the disabled list, was removed for defensive purposes, moving Arias from shortstop to third. Brandon Crawford, the usual starting shortstop and one of the best defensive shortstops in the NL, started the night on the bench because the Astros had a lefty starting pitcher.

18 “The Untold Story: Matt Cain’s Perfect Game.”

19 Pavlovic, “Cain, Giants Teammates Relive Best Moments from His Perfect Game.”

20 Kroner, “Decade after Matt Cain’s Perfect Game, Giants Recall the Nerves, the Catch, the Glory.”

21 “The Untold Story: Matt Cain’s Perfect Game.”

22 Kroner, “Decade after Matt Cain’s Perfect Game, Giants Recall the Nerves, the Catch, the Glory.”

23 Haft, “Praising Cain! Giant Perfect Game a Gem.”

24 Levine, “On the Astros – Giants 10, Astros 0 – 27 Up, 27 Down: Cain’s Perfection Includes 14 Strikeouts, Key Catch.”

25 Haft, “Praising Cain! Giant Perfect Game a Gem.”

26 Mark Hermann, “Big Three Pairing Was USGA Bogey,” Newsday (Long Island, New York), June 15, 2012: A81.

27 Bruce Jenkins, “Perfect,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 14, 2012: A1.

28 Bob Nightengale, “No-Hitters Show Batters Losing MLB Battle,” USA Today, June 15, 2012: C1. The first perfect game in Giants history was a long time coming: the franchise dates back to 1883.

29 “Cain Still Pumped Following Perfect Game,” sportsnet.ca, June 14, 2012, https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/cain-perfect-game-aftermath/.

30 “Matt Cain’s Perfect Game: Best Ever?” June 14, 2012, ESPN.com, June 14, 2012, https://www.espn.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/45135/matt-cains-perfect-game-best-ever.

31 Koufax threw 14 strikeouts in his perfect game on September 9, 1965 (Los Angeles Dodgers 1, Chicago Cubs 0, at Dodger Stadium).

32 As per Baseball-Reference, Game Score (GSc), to evaluate a pitcher’s start, is calculated as follows: Start with 50 points. Add 1 point for each out recorded, (or 3 points per inning). Add 2 points for each inning completed after the fourth inning. Add 1 point for each strikeout. Subtract 2 points for each hit allowed. Subtract 4 points for each earned run allowed. Subtract 2 points for each unearned run allowed. Subtract 1 point for each walk.

    49 to 50 is an average game score as per ESPN.com Stats and Info. 

    While this scoring system provides a good measure of pitching dominance, it does not recognize the strength of the batters, or how a ballpark or weather might influence performance. (It’s worth noting that the Astros had the lowest batting average in the NL in 2012: .236.) So, although Koufax and Cain’s perfect games were both assigned scores of 101, Dodgers fans and Giants fans can, and will, debate who may have pitched the most dominant perfect game.

33 It is likely Cain’s record as the only pitcher to score a run in his own perfect game may stand because the National League adopted designated hitters at the start of the 2022 season.

34 The Giants’ 10 runs in a perfect game set a new record. Previously, the highest number of runs in a perfect game was six. (This occurred twice: Jim Bunning and the Philadelphia Phillies 6, New York Mets 0, on June 21, 1964; and David Cone and the New York Yankees 6, Montreal Expos 0, on July 18, 1999.) The Giants’ 10-run record stood for 11 years, but was eclipsed when Domingo Germán threw the National and American Leagues’ 24th perfect game on June 28, 2023 (New York Yankees 11, Oakland Athletics 0).

35 Kroner, “Decade after Matt Cain’s Perfect Game, Giants Recall the Nerves, the Catch, the Glory.”

36 Kroner, “Decade after Matt Cain’s Perfect Game, Giants Recall the Nerves, the Catch, the Glory.”

37 During Cain’s perfecto, Ted Barrett became the first umpire to work behind the plate in two perfect games. In 1999 he umpired David Cone’s perfect game as well.

38 “Giants Unveil Perfect Game Plaque,” August 10, 2012, ESPN.com, August 10, 2012, https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/8258539/san-francisco-giants-honor-matt-cain-perfect-game-plaque.

39 Kepner,  “Good Things Finally Start Happening for a Pitcher Who’s Had It Hard.”