Humble Cabrera continues to hit his way into Giants lore

BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO -- On Monday afternoon, Melky Cabrera was holding a pseudo-Bible study in the middle of the Giants clubhouse, going over Scripture with teammates Santiago Casilla and Joaquin Arias.Late Tuesday night, Cabrera was surpassing a Giants deity. Even if he swore -- on a stack of Bibles? -- that he was not aware of any record until that afternoon.Cabrera singled three times in the Giants' 3-1 defeat of Arizona, and while you'd have a hard time classifying any of the knocks as hard-hit balls, he now has a San Francisco-era record 50 hits in the month of May, eclipsing the 49 hits Willie Mays had in May of 1958."He's in a different dimension right now," Diamondbacks starter Joe Saunders said of Cabrera.And, with two hits in the series finale Wednesday night, Cabrera would be in a class by himself. Randy Winn owns the single-month record with 51 hits in September of 2005. Winn parlayed that hot final month of the season into a big-money contract. Cabrera, acquired in a November, 2011 trade with Kansas City for left-hander Jonathan Sanchez, is also in a contract year.Not that that drives Cabrera, who also scored two runs.His humility is obvious, in English and Spanish, as is his thanks."Estoy contento," he said, again and again. I'm happy."I'm thankful for the opportunity. But I was unaware of any record."At least, until hitting coach Hensley Meulens hipped him to it during batting practice.Cabrera flied out to right field in the first inning before singling to left in the fourth. His dribbler down the third-base line in the sixth stayed just inside the bag to tie Mays and then his sawed-off seeing-eye single that just eluded Diamondbacks second baseman Aaron Hill in the eighth gave Cabrera the record for May.The fans recognized the feat and gave him a throaty ovation and yes, a smile crept across the face of Cabrera, whose 25th multi-hit game also leads the major leagues."It's great to hear the fans and know they're behind me," he said. "Like I said, I'm just grateful for the opportunity."I think I just try to make solid contact and it just happens the ball goes where there are no fielders."A day earlier, Giants manager Bruce Bochy caught some heat in cyberspace for comparing Cabrera and his hot hitting to a Hall of Famer's approach in Tony Gwynn. A day and a night later, Bochy was not backing of the comparison."I knew he was a good player," Bochy said of Cabrera, who is now batting a National League-leading .376. "But what a treat to watch him day in and day out. It's been pretty amazing."He's got that ability to use the whole field. He reminds me of Tony Gwynn. That's the type of hitter he is."Cabrera might even be the same kind of gentleman, even after erasing Mays' 54-year-old record."Maybe," Cabrera said, "one day I can be like Willie Mays myself."