Last night while you were sleeping (or trying to console a newborn like I was) Matt Cain retired all 27 Astros he faced to record the 22nd perfect game in Major League Baseball history. Cain’s 125-pitch gem was arguably the most perfect, perfect game ever as he tied Sandy Koufax’s record for the most strikeouts in a perfecto with 14. He was aided by a few great defensive plays behind him (as is the case with every no-hitter/perfect game), most notably a spectacular diving grab by Gregor Blanco in the 7th inning. Matt Cain has quietly been one of baseballs best pitchers since 2009 and this performance should go a long way towards making him more of a household name. His numbers on the year are pretty incredible; 8-2, 2.18 era (3rd best in MLB), 96 K (2nd), 6 to 1 K/BB, .192 Opp BA (5th), and most impressive of all 0.85 WHIP (1st). Cain is certainly the NL Cy Young front runner right now and at just 27 he’ll probably be a favorite to win that award for many years to come.

Cain’s perfect game is the second one in less than two months (Philip Humber on April 21st), and marks just the 2nd time in Major League Baseball history that there have been two perfect games thrown in one season, with the other being when Roy Halladay and Dallas Braden completed the feat just 2 years ago in 2010. At this it’s safe to say that baseball is a pitchers game once again.