The Giants started their first road trip of the year with a 1-5 record. Perhaps Matt Cain, the young left hander, would come up big in their game in San Diego April 9. And he did! Cain pitched a two hitter! Unfortunately, the Padres scored one run on a double, a sacrifice bunt, and a sacrifice fly. That was enough, as the Padres won 1 to 0.

On Tuesday, with a 1-6 record, the Giants looked to their only winning pitcher so far, Matt Morris. And the offense woke up, opening up a 6 to 0 lead in the fifth. Then the Pods started chipping away, with an RBI single in the fifth and a sacrifice RBI in the sixth. After a seventh inning home run by who-the-hell-IS-that-guy?? Adrian Gonzalez — who victimized the G’s in their opening homestand — it was still 6 to 3 going into the ninth. Cue the closer, Armando Benitez.

In his only other outing of the year, on April 5, Benitez had nearly blown a four-run lead before getting the third out with the tying runs on base. Now, with only a three-run cushion, Benitez made it even more exciting, giving up a two-run homer to Gonzalez to make it 6 to 5, then getting a fly ball from Khalil Greene to end it. This made Morris a two-game winner, which is two games more than the entire rest of the staff.

On Wednesday night, the Giants faced the invariably stifling Greg Maddux, who shut them out for six innings. Noah Lowry was arguably more effective, as the Padres got only 4 hits in the first six innings — but scored three runs, thanks in part to two Giants errors. Suckage: Down 3 to 0 in the seventh, Ryan Klesko led off, flailed at the first pitch, and hit a six-bouncer to the infield. Would it have killed him to wait for a few pitches from the new Padre reliever, side-armer Clay Meredith? The Giants were gone in order on nine pitches. They were quiet after that. Final score: Padres 4, Giants 0. It was their third shutout of the young season.

Record so far on this eight game road trip: 1-2. Record against the Padres so far this year: 2-6. Record for the whole year: 2-9. Now they go to Pittsburgh, where rain and snow showers were predicted for today.