Giants vs. Phillies, Series Preview: First Place Giants Head to Citizen's Bank Park for NLCS Rematch

Last time that the San Francisco Giants played the Philadelphia Phillies there was an October chill in the air with the stakes at an all time high as the Giants would eventually prevail in the NLCS. But with a chip on their shoulder and the addition of Cliff Lee the Phils have come back stronger than ever, looking for some redemption in the city of Brotherly Love against the defending champions. 

Luckily for the Giants they will dodge two of the Phillies Cy Young caliber starters in Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee during this three game set, instead having to deal withe the likes of Vance Worley, Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick. Hamels has stepped his game up to another level in 2011, keeping up with Philly's other two aces and then some. The native San Diegan is sporting a 12-5 record along with a 2.65 ERA this year, and hasn't given up more than two earned runs in nine of his last 10 starts.  But maybe the most dangerous pitcher Philadelphia has right now is Vance Worley, who has been brilliant since his addition to the rotation. The Sacramento native is 6-1 with a 2.02 ERA so far in 2011, and has allowed four earned runs total since May 29. 

The Giants will roll out the top of their rotation with Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito, and Matt Cain in that order. The true story of these three is Zito, who is trying to battle back after his terrible start in San Diego two weeks ago ( 8 ER in 3 2/3 innings) forced the team to skip his next start in the rotation. How will Zito fare in a hostile environment of Citizen's Bank Park? Can he ever show the form that won him a Cy Young Award all those years back? We'll get a chance to see if he can redeem himself on Wednesday.

All three games are at 4:05 pm PT with coverage on CSN Bay Area and KNBR 680 AM.