Kreepy Korner Kurse Klifted

Ruminations on the paranormal aside, it appears that at least one of the inhabitants of Barry Lamar Bonds's former locker room estate has got it going, as Matt Cain finally picked up a win last night over the Rockies.

Cain was wildly effective (not in a good way, but not in a bad way, either) as he allowed five walks and four hits in 5.1 innings of shutout ball.

In other news, the offense (with this "hell, it's something different" lineup) managed a couple of timely bloops and bases loaded walks to make the goose egg stand.

But the real props, once again, have to go to the bullpen. Starting with The Incredible Chulk, who stranded both runners he inherited from Cainer with one out, through to the again impressive Tyler Walker and tentatively consistent Brian "Smile" Wilson, the Giants recorded their fourth shutout, all of them preserved by the bullpen.

And here's a telling, if not slightly dated, stat as to the bullpen's effectiveness so far this young season from Henry Schulman at the Chronicle:

The Giants lead the league with 90.2 percent of inherited runners stranded. In seven games through Wednesday, the bullpen allowed six runs in 252/3 innings, a 2.10 ERA.

Other quick hits:

- It's official, Barry Zito is the most expensive long reliever in history. For this year at the least, however, he is the second most expensive reliever overall - that title belongs to Mariano Rivera, who makes $15M to Zito's $14.5M. Yes, Zito's deal is backloaded.

- I hate to admit it, but Ray Durham is heating up, hitting .333 (10 for 30) in his last 10 games. However, he hasn't exactly been a run producer, knocking in just 2 runs in that time.

- On the flip side, John Bowker is officially in his first major league slump; his average is down to .224 after going 1 for his last 18.

- In ex-Giant news, Matt Morris may be done after his release from the Pirates. Always seemed like a good guy - as I've said before, I'm not going to fault someone for signing a ridiculous contract offer that they're not really worth. Sabean gave the guy a three year deal in 2005 when the Cardinals already thought he was done. Good work there. The silver lining for Morris is this may give him a head start on a new career.

Good luck, Matt - and keep us in mind if you need a coaching gig, our guy isn't cutting it (but that's a post for later).

- And finally, I'm sure you've seen it, but still, ewww.