CINCINNATI -- Earlier this week, Bruce Bochy offered struggling starters Matt Cain and Jake Peavy a vote of confidence, saying changes weren't imminent with the back end of the rotation."I have too much confidence in these two guys," the San Francisco Giants skipper said. "We're in April here. I've seen some good things and both of them are close. I don't think there's an option that's going to make the staff better."On Wednesday afternoon, Peavy was facing Cincinnati, a club he had dominated during his career, going 7-0 with a 2.38 ERA over 12 starts.But, Peavy struggled.In the second inning, Peavy allowed three home runs, including a solo shot by Brandon Phillips and two-run blasts by Eugenio Suarez and Zack Cozart in a 7-4 Reds' win.Peavy later gave up a fourth home run, and the seven runs allowed caused his ERA to balloon to 9.85. Peavy had allowed only three homers total in 12 prior starts against Cincinnati. The four homers allowed on Wednesday tied his career high.Slow starts are... [More]

RHP Matt Cain looks to earn his first win of the season in his fifth start of 2016 on Saturday afternoon, when he takes the mound for the Giants in the middle contest of a three-game series against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Cain didn't factor into the decision in his most recent start last Sunday, when he allowed four runs and 10 hits and two walks while striking out four over 5 2/3 innings in the Giants' 5-4 loss to the Miami Marlins. He hasn't won in 13 starts dating back to last July 22. Cain is 6-5 with a 3.23 ERA in 14 career starts against the Mets.

RHP Matt Cain survived the fifth inning Sunday, which was a first for this season. But thanks in part to allowing a run in the inning -- his 12th in four starts this season -- Cain remains in search of his first win. Cain entered the game having allowed a .737 batting average (14-for-19) to hitters in the fifth inning, and gave up two more hits and a run against the Miami Marlins. But hitters went just 2-for-5 with a walk in the inning, bringing Cain's season mark down to .667 (16-for-24). Cain was pulled two outs into the sixth inning.

RHP Matt Cain has received just one run of offensive support in his three starts. But Sunday, he will be backed by a club that has opened its series against the Marlins with eight- and seven-run explosions. Cain has gone 6-5 with a 3.49 ERA in his career in 15 starts against the Marlins.

RHP Matt Cain ran into the fifth-inning blues for the second consecutive start Tuesday night, and because of it, he remains winless on the season. Cain, who gave up nine runs in the fifth last week at Colorado after taking a shutout into the inning, had a no-hitter through four Tuesday against the Diamondbacks before the roof caved in. This time, it was just three runs, but they were three too many in a 3-0 loss. The Giants have yet to score while Cain has been on the mound this season.

RHP Matt Cain held the Rockies to one single through four innings with five strikeouts before they knocked him out with a nine-run fifth. Cain finished with 91 pitches in 4 2/3 innings and gave up six runs on six hits and one walk with seven strikeouts. He yielded six or more runs in less than five innings for the first time since July 5, 2013, against the Dodgers.

RHP Matt Cain pitched six strong innings in his 2016 debut Friday night, allowing two runs on six hits in the Giants' eventual 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cain did not get credit for the win as he left the game trailing 2-0. For the veteran, it was the 47th time in his career that he received no runs of offensive support in a start. The Giants have not scored a run in 16.1 percent of his 292 career innings.

RHP Matt Cain will make his first start of the season Friday. Cain won a spot in the Giants' rotation to start the season despite a 7.71 ERA in Cactus League action. Cain is just 5-11 with a 3.49 ERA in 30 career starts against the Dodgers, but that includes a 5-4 record and 3.03 ERA since 2010.

RHP Matt Cain is set to make his first Cactus League appearance Friday against the Padres, assuming he doesn't have any setbacks before then. Cain's spring progress has been slowed because of the removal of a cyst on his pitching arm. He threw a simulated game on Monday without incident."I think we'll try to get the pitch count as high as we can if everything keeps going like it has been," said Cain, who could get as many as four starts before the regular season begins. "If everything feels fine, I think we can play it from there."

RHP Matt Cain underwent surgery to remove a cyst from his upper right arm on Thursday, the team announced. The operation will prevent Cain from throwing for about 10 days and calls into question whether or not he will be ready for the start of the season. Thursday marked the second time in recent months that Cain has undergone a procedure to eliminate the cyst. He had it drained over the winter but it soon returned.

San Francisco Giants right-hander Matt Cain underwent surgery to remove a cyst from his upper right arm on Thursday, the team announced.The operation will prevent Cain from throwing for about 10 days and calls into question whether or not he will be ready for the start of the season."I hate to speculate," San Francisco general manager Bobby Evans told reporters. "It's the start of spring. Three weeks from now, this would be tough to overcome."Thursday marked the second time in recent months that Cain has undergone a procedure to eliminate the cyst. He had it drained over the winter but it soon returned.Cain, who will make $20 million this season, is looking to bounce back from consecutive injury plagued seasons.He was just 2-7 with a 4.18 ERA in 15 starts in 2014 before undergoing season-ending elbow surgery. Last season, he was 2-4 with a 5.79 ERA in 13 appearances (11 starts) after returning from a forearm injury.Cain has won 12 or more games five times in his career but the last time he did so was in 2012 when he went 16-5 with a 2.79 ERA.

RHP Matt Cain looked good when pitchers and catchers reported to camp, manager Bruce Bochy said. Then again, Bochy said the same thing multiple times last season, and Cain never demonstrated it in regular-season game action, going 2-4 with a 5.79 ERA as he battled a sore right forearm. The 31-year-old is penciled in to be the team's fifth starter this season, but he will be pushed by RHP Chris Heston, one of last year's biggest surprises (12-11, 3.95). It's a rare occasion when the veteran is the guy with something to prove.

Cain tossed five innings of shutout ball, surrendering two hits while striking out one in Sunday's season-finale against the Rockies

With the Giants out of contention, they decided to give Cain a spot start in the last game of the season. He pitched well enough, but he did not get the win after the bullpen imploded in the ninth. While the shutout performance looked good on paper, he only managed to strike out one batter and had an 11:3 flyball-to-groundball ratio. He finishes the year with a disappointing 5.79 ERA, and it seems he will never regain his dominant form.

Cain (elbow) was activated off the disabled list Friday.

Cain made his final rehab appearance Monday, and will now rejoin the big league club for the stretch run of the season. After pitching to a 6.15 ERA through 10 starts this season, Cain figures to serve primarily as a reliever for the remainder of the year.

Cain (elbow) will make another rehab appearance with Triple-A Sacramento on Monday, and he is expected to be activated Thursday, Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area reports.

Barring an injury to one of their current starters, Cain will rejoin the Giants as a reliever. His 6.15 ERA and 1.58 WHIP are both career-worsts, as his bounce back attempt from offseason elbow surgery went south quickly. The Giants have a lot of money tied up in Cain for the next couple of years, so they will likely try and give him every chance to right the ship, but fantasy owners are not obliged to do the same.

San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain is expected to be activated from the disabled list Thursday after recovering from an elbow injury, according to CSN Bay Area.

San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain is expected to be activated from the disabled list Thursday after recovering from an elbow injury, according to CSN Bay Area. Cain will likely pitch out of the bullpen after making a rehab appearance for Triple-A Sacramento on Monday.

Cain (elbow) is set to throw about 35 pitches out of the bullpen for Triple-A Sacramento on Friday, Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reports.

Cain continues on the road to recovery, but probably won't be in the rotation upon his return. The veteran hurler has struggled even more this season, but will look to turn things around in a different role out of the bullpen.

Cain (elbow) is slated to throw two innings Friday at Triple-A Sacramento, Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area reports.

This will be a quick return to the mound for Cain, who just landed on the disabled list on Aug. 28 with nerve irritation in his pitching elbow. After a week's rest, he'll be back on the mound Friday to begin his rehab assignment. Given that he's only going two innings, he'll likely need at least a second rehab appearance before rejoining the Giants.

Cain (elbow) has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Cain has not looked like himself in August as his ERA has ballooned from 4.91 to 6.15 over five starts this month. The Giants determined that Cain is dealing with nerve irritation in his pitching elbow and placed him on the disabled list. In a corresponding move, Chris Heston was recalled from Triple-A and will get the start on Sunday.

Cain gave up six runs on eight hits and two walks over five innings in his fourth loss Tuesday against the Cubs. He struck out three.

Cain has given up at least four runs in four of his five August starts and seven times in just 10 starts all year. His ERA is up to 6.15 as he looks further and further removed from his former All-Star self every time out. He last recorded an ERA under 4.00 in 2012.