For nine innings, Matt Cain was perfect. The San Francisco Giants' right-handed pitcher retired all 27 batters that the Houston Astros sent to the plate on Wednesday night in a 10-0 win at AT&T Park.
The 27-year-old Cain notched a career-high 14 strikeouts en route to the first perfect game in the storied, 129-year history of the Giants. The gaudy strikeout total matches Sandy Koufax for the most ever in a perfect game. The Dodgers' legend notched 14 strikeouts in his perfecto against the Chicago Cubs in September 1965. Cain needed 125 pitches to work his way from Jordan Schafer in the top of the first through Jason Castro, who grounded out to third to end the game.
During an on-field interview with the studio crew of "MLB Tonight" on MLB Network, Cain was still coming to grips with the weight of his accomplishment.
"Honestly, I have no idea what it means. This is unspeakable right now. This is unbelievable," Cain marveled. "This is something that, obviously, [is] part of history, something that I'm going to remember forever. This is truly amazing right now."
The Giants put crooked numbers on the board in four of the first five frames to jump out to a large lead. By the later innings, the only drama remaining involved Cain's bid for a perfecto.
The closest call for Cain was saved by a stellar catch in right field by Gregor Blanco in the seventh inning to rob Schafer of what looked to a sure hit to the gap. An inning earlier, Giants left fielder Melky Cabrera also made a terrific snag to keep the Astros off the base paths.
WATCH: Blanco's Diving Catch
Cain's historic outing is the second perfect game of the 2012 season. White Sox pitcher Philip Humber twirled a perfecto of his own in April. According to ESPN Stats & Info, 2012 is now just the third season in MLB history to feature two perfect games (1880, 2010). This is the 22nd perfect game in MLB history.
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