Matt Cain named game one starter in playoffs

San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy named Matt Cain the Game 1 starter for the playoffs on Tuesday, according to Alex Pavlovic on Twitter.

The announcement was expected for quite some time as Cain has clearly been the Giants best pitcher over the course of the 2012 season. Cain is 16-5 on the year with a 2.77 ERA and 191 strikeouts.

Cain is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA over 21 and 1/3 innings for his career in the postseason. He is the fifth pitcher to pitch at least 20 innings in a postseason and not give up an earned run.

His highlight of the year came on June 13 when he pitched a perfect game against the Houston Astros, striking out 14 along the way. He tied Sandy Koufax for most strikeouts thrown in a perfect game. He also logged the most pitches in a perfect game (125) and is the only pitcher to have scored a run in his perfect game.

Bochy hasn't announced who will be starting the second and third games of the playoffs. The Game 2 starter is expected to come within the next couple of days and the Game 3 starter will likely wait until after Games 1 and 2, as reported in another Tweet from Pavlovic. Although Bochy hasn't formally announced it, Madison Bumgarner is believed to be the Game 2 starter.