San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy announced his plans for who will start each of the first three games of the NLCS against the Philadelphia Phillies. As expected, Tim Lincecum will start Game 1 of the series. In a slightly unexpected switch, Bochy indicated that Jonathan Sanchez will start Game 2 and Matt Cain will start Game 3. According to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, Madison Bumgarner is penciled in for Game 4 of the series. Final rosters are due at 10am on Saturday.
This set-up would thus leave Matt Cain lined up to start Game 7 if necessary. As there is only on day off between games 2 and 3 and games 4 and 5, if Lincecum pitched in Game 5, one would imagine he would only be available in relief for Game 7, if even that. However, if the Giants are trailing 2-1 or 3-0 heading into Game 4, would it really surprise anybody to see Bochy bring back Lincecum on three days rest?