The San Francisco Giants have already secured the NL West title, and it seems Matt Cain has been gearing up for the postseason for quite some time.
The right-hander looks to win his sixth straight decision while cooling off the surging Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.
San Francisco clinched its second division crown in three years with a win over San Diego on Saturday, but it has dropped two straight since after falling 7-2 to Arizona in Tuesday's series opener.
The Giants (89-65), who had won 10 of 11 prior to Sunday's loss to the Padres, mustered only four hits - their fewest since they also finished with four in a loss to the Diamondbacks on Sept. 5.
Marco Scutaro doubled to extend his hitting streak to 13, but Pablo Sandoval went hitless and is 0 for 7 over his last three games after going 10 for 16 over his previous four.
Arizona has won seven of nine, but Cain (15-5, 2.86 ERA) will look to cool it down while extending his unbeaten run to nine.
Cain has allowed more than two runs only once while posting a 2.45 ERA over his last eight starts. He gave up one run and struck out eight in eight innings of last Wednesday's 7-1 win over Colorado to set a career high for victories.
"It feels good to finally get past that 14 number," Cain said. "But you know what? We've got games left, and I don't want to stop now."The right-hander won his last two starts versus the Diamondbacks while allowing only one run in each, striking out eight in six innings May 12 and overcoming five walks in five innings Sept. 14.
Cain is 4-1 with a 2.26 ERA over his last eight home starts versus Arizona (78-76), which still is officially in the playoff race but sits 5 1/2 games behind St. Louis for the NL's second wild card.
Paul Goldschmidt , who extended his hitting streak to eight, finished with a career-high five RBIs after hitting a three-run homer and adding pair of sacrifice flies Tuesday. Aaron Hill scored three times while going 3 for 5.
"The pitch I hit tonight was up a little bit and the wind brought it back a little. It barely cleared the fence," Goldschmidt said. "I wish I knew how to explain it. I'd try to do it more often. Every time I step in I just want to hit the ball hard and swing at the right pitches."The Diamondbacks have won four of five in San Francisco, and they'll send Wade Miley to the hill as he looks to get back on track Wednesday.
Miley (16-10, 3.25) has gone through a rough patch over the last month, going 2-2 with a 5.34 ERA in his last five starts. He gave up five runs and a career high-tying 10 hits Friday against Colorado, but the offense picked him up in a 15-5 victory.
The left-hander didn't get nearly the same support Sept. 15 against the Giants, allowing three runs in seven innings of a 3-2 defeat. He earned a win in relief versus San Francisco on April 8, pitching four hitless innings.
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AVG
HRRUNSSBSOBBOBPSLGOPS
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Henry Blanco | 6 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Willie Bloomquist | 9 | .333 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .400 | .844 | .444 |
| Geoff Blum | 28 | .250 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .267 | .624 | .357 |
| Josh Collmenter | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | 6 | .167 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .286 | .453 | .167 |
| Aaron Hill | 10 | .200 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .182 | .682 | .500 |
| Daniel Hudson | 3 | .333 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .666 | .333 |
| Ian Kennedy | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| John McDonald | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Wade Miley | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Miguel Montero | 34 | .235 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 7 | .316 | .757 | .441 |
| Lyle Overbay | 9 | .444 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | .444 | 1.444 | 1.000 |
| Gerardo Parra | 30 | .233 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | .281 | .548 | .267 |
| Ryan Roberts | 14 | .286 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | .450 | 1.093 | .643 |
| Joe Saunders | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Justin Upton | 36 | .306 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 10 | .405 | .849 | .444 |
| Chris Young | 33 | .212 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | .297 | .539 | .242 |
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Brandon Belt | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Gregor Blanco | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Emmanuel Burriss | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Melky Cabrera | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Matt Cain | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Brandon Crawford | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .000 |
| Aubrey Huff | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Buster Posey | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .000 |
| Pablo Sandoval | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
 Arizona Diamondbacks |
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| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| September 11, 2012 | J.J. Putz | Day-to-Day | Stiff back |
| August 30, 2012 | Chris Johnson | Day-to-Day | Flu |
| August 21, 2012 | Justin Upton | Day-to-Day | Left game - Tight hamstring |
| August 17, 2012 | Jason Kubel | Day-to-Day | Neck stiffness |
| August 14, 2012 | Takashi Saito | 15-Day DL | Strained left hamstring |
| August 14, 2012 | Takashi Saito | 15-Day DL | Strained left hamstring |
 San Francisco Giants |
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| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| September 06, 2012 | Xavier Nady | Day-to-Day | Strained left hamstring |
| August 27, 2012 | Clay Hensley | 15-Day DL | Strained right groin |
| August 27, 2012 | Clay Hensley | 15-Day DL | Strained right groin |
| August 23, 2012 | Justin Christian | 15-Day DL | Sprained left wrist |
| August 23, 2012 | Justin Christian | 15-Day DL | Sprained left wrist |
| August 22, 2012 | Buster Posey | Day-to-Day | Hamstring tightness |
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Matt Cain had no problem working out of jams when San Francisco's defense committed errors in three innings.
The Giants ace was even more impressive after getting himself into trouble.
Cain pitched out of a two-on, no-outs jam in the seventh inning to stay unbeaten in his last nine starts and helped himself at the plate with two hits and an RBI while leading San Francisco to a 6-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.
"When there's an error, (Cain) doesn't get distracted," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "If anything he tries to pick them up. That's what he's so good at. He has that great focus you like out there and he did it again tonight."
Cain (16-5) scattered four hits and had six strikeouts in his next-to-last start in the regular season. Two of the strikeouts came in the seventh after he allowed a leadoff double to Paul Goldschmidt and a single to Gerardo Parra .
It was exactly the type of outing San Francisco needed from its ace after two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum was knocked around by the Diamondbacks a day earlier.
Cain, who hasn't lost since Aug. 6, lowered his ERA at AT&T Park to 2.03 despite the three errors behind him - two by shortstop Brandon Crawford .
"That's kind of what you want to do as a pitcher when funky plays happen behind you," Cain said. "It's the same things if we make bad pitches. We're looking for those guys to pick us up."
Cain tied lefty Madison Bumgarner for the team lead in victories, marking the first time since 1993 that the Giants have had two 16-game winners.
Brandon Belt added three hits, Pablo Sandoval singled twice and drove in two runs, and Marco Scutaro extended his career-best hitting streak to 14 games for San Francisco.
It's San Francisco's first victory since clinching the NL West for the second time in three years.
The Giants were the fifth NL team to pitch a shutout Wednesday. The last time there were at least five shutouts in the same league on the same day was Sept. 18, 2003, in the NL, according to STATS LLC.
Parra and Miguel Montero had two hits apiece for Arizona, which only managed to get one runner past second base while losing for just the third time in 10 games.
"Cain shut us down," Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. "He could throw any pitch at any time to any place he wants. We didn't swing the bats well at all."
Guillermo Mota , Jeremy Affeldt and Dan Otero combined for two innings to complete San Francisco's 14th shutout of the season.
The Giants scored twice off Diamondbacks starter Wade Miley (16-11) in the third on an infield hit by Sandoval and an RBI single from Buster Posey .
Posey joined Walker Cooper (122 in 1947) and Dick Dietz (107, 1970) as the only other catchers in franchise history to reach 100 RBIs in a season. The achievement comes after Posey missed most of 2011 with a broken leg following a collision at home plate.
"It's been really pretty incredible how he's bounced back from that injury," Bochy said. "He's a special talent. That's quite a milestone, especially for a catcher. Those guys have to take a lot of time off and they get banged up pretty good back there."
Miley, Arizona's prized left-hander who was attempting to become the first rookie in the NL to reach 17 wins since Cincinnati's Tom Browning in 1985, didn't last much longer.
Belt tripled leading off the fourth and scored on Scutaro's single. Crawford, who walked following Belt's hit, later scored on Sandoval's fielder's choice grounder to give the Giants a 4-0 lead.
Scutaro also doubled in the eighth and has the longest active hitting streak in the majors.
Miley lasted just four innings, matching the shortest outing of his career. He allowed three earned runs with three strikeouts and three walks while losing to the Giants for the second time in two weeks.
Cain singled and scored in the third then reached on an infield single in the fifth to drive in Hunter Pence and make it 5-0. Pence reached on a throwing error by Diamondbacks third baseman Cody Ransom .
Goldschmidt doubled leading off the seventh and moved to third on Parra's single, but Cain worked out of the jam without much trouble. He struck out Ransom and John McDonald then got pinch-hitter Jason Kubel to ground out to third.
Notes: Cain has gone at least seven innings without allowing an earned run in five of his 31 starts this season. ... Bochy said the team will decide by Thursday whether to include suspended OF Melky Cabrera on its postseason roster. ... LHP Barry Zito (13-8) goes after his fourth consecutive win for San Francisco in the series finale. LHP Patrick Corbin (6-7) takes the hill for Arizona.
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Arizona Diamondbacks