SAN FRANCISCO -- Lasting five innings is not usually an accomplishment for a workhorse such as Matt Cain. Considering the way his past two starts went, that had to feel pretty satisfying. Cain bounced back from those abbreviated rough outings to win for the first time in more than a month as the San Francisco Giants beat the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks for a second straight night, winning 4-3 on Saturday. Buster Posey hit a two-run homer to lead the offence but the bigger story was Cain (6-6). He allowed two runs in five-plus innings after failing to make it out of the third inning his past two starts to win for the first time since June 13 at Pittsburgh. "You go out there and you cant even make it through an inning, thats never any fun," Cain said. "But you kind of have to put it past you. As a starter, thats beaten into you that you want to go out and throw seven innings. You feel like you let your guys down. Thats the biggest thing. You feel like you put your team in a rut." While Cain was unable to retire a batter in the sixth, the work from seven relievers helped make sure he got the win that helped the World Series champion Giants cut their deficit in the NL West to 4 1/2 games behind Arizona. The Diamondbacks lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers fell to a half-game as Wade Miley (6-8) lasted just four innings and All-Star Paul Goldschmidt failed to deliver in a key spot for the second straight game. "This division, nobody seems to want to run away with it," Arizona outfielder Cody Ross said. "Its there for the taking. As bad as weve been playing, were still a half game up." Cain was coming off two disastrous starts before the All-Star break. He gave up eight runs and was knocked out in the third inning of a loss to the Dodgers on July 5 and retired only two batters and gave up three runs to the Mets five days later in his shortest career start. But Cain looked sharp early, striking out two batters in the first. "He felt great, he looked great," manager Bruce Bochy said. "He had good stuff tonight. Overall, it was a really nice effort and it won the ballgame for us." Cain didnt allow a run until the fifth when shortstop Tony Abreu threw the ball into the stands behind first while trying to complete a potential inning-ending double play. Cain escaped further damage when he got Goldschmidt to ground out with the bases loaded to end the inning. It was the second straight game that the Giants got their nemesis to ground out with the bases loaded. Goldschmidt has the most homers and RBIs against San Francisco over the past three seasons. "I dont think theyre exploiting anything," manager Kirk Gibson said. "Theyre pitching him good. Goldys been carrying us all year. Its part of the game, those things happen. Theyre fortunate to get through him." Cain was replaced after allowing back-to-back singles to Aaron Hill and Miguel Montero to open the sixth. Martin Prado followed with an RBI single off George Kontos to cut San Franciscos lead to 4-2. Kontos, Jeremy Affeldt and Jose Mijares each retired a batter to escape the inning with no further damage on the scoreboard. But Affeldt left the game with a strained left groin when he came up lame on a pitch to pinch-hitter A.J. Pollock. Affeldt underwent an MRI to determine the extent of the injury. "Thats never a good area," Bochy said. "Its a possible DL." San Francisco used seven relievers to get through the final four innings Sergio Romo pitched the ninth for his 23rd save in 26 chances. Romo allowed a two-out RBI single to Prado, ending a streak of 29 consecutive scoreless outings against Arizona before striking out Ross to end it. The Giants gave Cain an early lead to work with when Pablo Sandoval drove in Marco Scutaro with a two-out double in the first inning and appeared to be on the verge of breaking the game open in the fourth when they had the bases loaded and one run in before Miley escaped the jam. Posey, Sandoval and Hunter Pence opened the fourth with consecutive singles to load the bases. Jeff Francoeur drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-0 but that was all the Giants would get. Sandoval was thrown out trying to score from third on a pitch to the screen and Pence was thrown out on Abreus grounder to Prado at third. Miley then struck out Guillermo Quiroz to keep the score 2-0. NOTES: Arizona has lost 12 of 15 road games. ... Giants RHP Ryan Vogelsong (broken finger) threw 33 pitches in a simulated game and could be ready to begin a rehab assignment Tuesday in the Arizona Rookie League. ... 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Its produced 47 first-round picks over the last five years, nearly twice as many as any other conference. And yet, when it comes to quarterbacks, the SEC has fallen behind the curve.Of those 47 first-round picks, guess how many were quarterbacks? One. Johnny Manziel was the lone SEC signal caller to be taken in the first round since 2011. In that same time period, the Big 12 and Pac-12 each have had three chosen in the first round.Cam Newton, last years NFL MVP, is an obvious success story. And Matthew Stafford has carved out a solid career. But for every Newton and Stafford, there seem to be more who havent translated to the next level.Why hasnt the SEC produced more elite quarterbacks?Im not sure, Florida coach Jim McElwain said. I know those two you mentioned [Newton and Stafford] - theyre pretty damn good.But that doesnt really answer the question. And this year, outside of a couple spots, there is more uncertainty at the position than ever.When ESPN ranked the top 100 players in the country earlier this month, only two SEC quarterbacks -- Chad Kelly and Joshua Dobbs -- made the cut. And neither Kelly nor Dobbs made Mel Kiper Jr.s most recent Big Board or Todd McShays Way-too-early 2017 NFL Mock Draft.It was also telling that there were only three quarterbacks - Kelly, Dobbs and Texas A&Ms Trevor Knight - at this years SEC media days. Compare that to 2013 when nine quarterbacks attended the leagues media days.Again, where are the elite quarterbacks in the SEC?Thats a great question, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. Im really not for sure.Good is good enoughDo SEC teams really need elite quarterbacks to succeed? Alabama has won four of the last seven national championships, and not of one those title teams had a quarterback that was taken in the first three rounds of the NFL draft.Nick Saban has found a way to win without a star under center.The quarterback is not the centerpiece of the offense, former Alabama signal caller Greg McElroy said. The quarterback is a facilitator. And thats not to water down what the quarterbacks job is. The quarterbacks job is to make every other one of the 10 guys on the field with him better. That is the job of the Alabama quarterback.A lot of people say, They dont put up numbers. Anybody can play there. Thats not really true because some people dont maximize the talent of the people around them.The other key stat that stands out about all three of Alabamas championship-winning quarterbacks is the amount of interceptions they threw. McElroy threw only four in 2009. A.J. McCarron threw five in 2011 and just three the next year in 2012. Jake Coker threw eight last year, but he only threw one in the teams final seven games.SEC quarterbacks might not always have the perfect builds or the strongest arms. But on almost every one of the leagues best teams over the years, there was a Connor Shaw or an Aaron Murray or a James Franklin who knew how to take care of the football.If every drive ends in a kick then you have a real chance in winning the game, McElroy said. Whether that be a punt, an extra point or a field goal, as long as the other team has to go the length of the field, then you have a chance.The game is changingIs Nick Marshall an elite quarterback? In terms of NFL ability, he wasnt even close. He went undrafted, and eventually made the Jacksonville Jaguars as a cornerback.But ask any SEC coach, and hell sing a different tune. Thats because most of those coaches were shredded by Marshall and the Auburn offense. He could beat you with his arm. He could beat with you his legs. And when the play broke down and you thought you had him, thats when he was at his best.Sometimes, thats exactly what SEC teams need at the quarterback position.I know that week in and week out in thhis league, youre going to play against the best defenses, the best defensive lines, Malzahn said.dddddddddddd In this league, things break down probably more than other leagues, maybe more than all [other leagues] combined. And youve got to have a guy that can make plays on his own when things break down and protect the football.Look around the SEC. How many true pocket-passers are there? Every team is looking for more of a dual-threat quarterback. Kelly and Dobbs, the leagues top two players at the position, can both make plays with their feet. Brandon Harris has that ability at LSU. And so do all three of the quarterbacks competing at Auburn. Even Alabama is giving a hard look at true freshman Jalen HurtsThe only problem is that dual-threat quarterbacks dont always translate to the NFL level, at least not yet. Jared Goff and Carson Wentz werent taken No. 1 and No. 2 in Aprils NFL draft because of their ability to run. They were taken because theyre 6-foot-4 or taller and they can make just about every throw on the field.Regional differencesWhere do the SEC quarterbacks from? Kelly hails from New York. Jacob Eason, the freshman phenom who is competing for the starting job at Georgia, arrived in January from the state of Washington. And the three quarterbacks in the mix at Alabama - Hurts, Cooper Bateman and Blake Barnett - come from Texas, Utah and California, respectively.Now thats not true of every school in the conference, but more times than not, teams have to go outside their region to grab a quarterback.Just look at the numbers. Since ESPN expanded its recruiting rankings to 300, there have been 120 quarterbacks ranked in the ESPN 300. Of those 120, only 38 played high school football in the Southeast.Of the 38 from the Southeast ranked in the ESPN 300, 20 were pocket-passers. California alone has had 18 pocket-passers ranked in the ESPN 300 since 2013.Some of that goes back to style of play. In the Southeast, more so than anywhere else, high school coaches tend to take the best athlete on the team and make him the quarterback. Its why ESPN scouts had to create the athlete position when it came to evaluating recruits. But in almost every case, these quarterbacks end up playing a different position at the college level.So while the Southeast might have the best overall athletes of any region, other states like California and Texas typically produce the best quarterbacks.What does the future hold?At first glance, it doesnt look good. The QB play across the SEC has been trending in the wrong direction for a couple years now, and this years crop of quarterback doesnt elicit much confidence that its going to be any different in 2016.It also doesnt help that a handful of the SECs promising young quarterbacks transferred out of the league this offseason. Texas A&M alone lost two former ESPN 300 signal callers in Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray. And Florida (Will Grier), Kentucky (Patrick Towles) and South Carolina (Connor Mitch) all saw former four-star recruits leave the school as well.But lets not forget that Alabama won a national championship just last year with a transfer (Coker) at quarterback. Plus, both Knight at Texas A&M and recently-named Florida starter Luke Del Rio transferred in from other schools.Incoming transfers arent going to change the narrative, though. If anything, it highlights that SEC havent been able to develop elite quarterbacks.The conferences best hope might be in the form of two freshmen - Eason at Georgia and Shea Patterson at Ole Miss. Both were highly sought after coming out of high school, and both have shown abilities that could translate to the NFL. Its still way too early to say for sure, but theres potential there. And maybe that means theres potential for the SEC. ' ' '