PITCHERS RULE!

Seems like it this year, anyway.

Wednesday night, the Mets' R.A. Dickey capped the greatest five-start run in the history of knuckleball pitchers with a one-hitter to beat the Tampa Bay Rays.

Dickey was just a warm-up act.

Later in the evening, the Giants' Matt Cain tossed a perfect game against the Astros. It was Major League Baseball's second perfect game this season, and the fifth no-hitter (including last week's combined no-hitter thrown by Seattle's Kevin Millwood and thirteen relief pitchers).

Cain had a couple of close calls.

In the top of the fourth inning, Jordan Schafer led off and pulled a shot down the first-base line. First-base umpire Mike Muchlinski immediately called it foul, but replays suggest the ball might just have crossed the corner of the bag. Only FIELDf/x knows for sure (and he's not talking).

In the seventh, it was Schafer again. This time he drove a long fly ball toward the gap in right-center field, a long ways from any San Francisco gardener. But right fielder Gregor Blanco got a good jump, and went airborne at the warning track, in a headlong dive, to make the catch. Cain threw up his hands, then tipped his cap to Blanco.

In comparison, the eighth and ninth innings were uneventful. Until the end, anyway.

With one out in the eighth, Cain struck out Brett Wallace for his 14th strikeout to set a new career high.

In the ninth, all three outs were routine (at least for someone watching on television). Brian Bogusevic and Chris Snyder both lofted easy flies to left fielder Melky Cabrera, and pandemonium broke out when pinch-hitter Jason Castro hit a grounder to third baseman Joaquin Arias, who'd been inserted earlier for his defense.

Arias snagged the ball, then threw hard and true to Brandon Belt at first base to complete the perfect game.

Oh, and the Giants won 10-0.