Marco Scutaro's been diagnosed with a his muscle strain and looks good to go for Wednesday's Game 3 of the NLCS in St. Louis.
But just because he's going to play doesn't mean his teammates forgot what happened to the second baseman when Matt Holliday pulled off a very-much-borderline-dirty slide in Game 2.
It's possible we could see some retribution; Matt Cain, who will start Game 3 for the Giants, said that he doesn't plan on plunking Holliday with a ball Wednesday, but if "one gets away, one gets away."
"You've got to go out there and pitch your game. If something gets away from you inside, that's kind of part of the game," Cain said. "But you've got to be able to pitch inside. You've got to be able to pitch away. You can't have a fear with doing that."
These things are all true: not pitching inside because you're worried it'll appear as if you're going after a hitter isn't doing yourself any favors as a pitcher.
At the same time, Cain and the Giants need to be careful here. If the perception is that they're going after Holliday or other Cardinals hitters as retribution for the slide against Scutaro, we could see the officiating crew step in.
And if stepping in involves tossing Cain for throwing high and tight, well, that's no good for the Giants.
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It would be surprising if Cain did anything serious enough to warrant getting tossed, though. He knows the stakes in this game, at this point in the season, and surely realizes he gives the Giants the best chance to win.
Just don't be shocked if he goes high and tight on Holliday at some point early in Game 3.
